Wha¯nau values inspire Wellingtonian of the Year
Wha¯ nau values drilled into by her parents, growing up in Wainuiomata, provided the motivation that saw Teresea Olsen crowned Wellingtonian of the Year.
On Thursday, the 69-year-old won the community services category and then the supreme award, at the Wellingtonian of the Year Awards, for overseeing a Covid-19 vaccination programme in vulnerable communities in the Hutt Valley.
Created and sponsored by The Dominion Post, the Wellingtonian of the Year Awards were started in 1989 to celebrate achievements and contributions across all sectors of the greater Wellington community.
On Friday, Olsen said she was ‘‘overwhelmed’’ to be recognised with such a significant award and her first thought was how pleased her parents, Ralph and Keriana, would be.
While proud of what she had achieved, Olsen did, however, downplay her contribution to one
The 2021 Dominion Post Wellingtonian Of The Year Award winners:
■ Arts – Sam Trubridge
■ Business – Tim Brown
■ Community Service – Teresea Olsen
■ Education – Jacqui Maguire
■ Environment – Terese McLeod
■ Public Service – Dame Patsy Reddy
■ Science and Technology – Belinda Storey
■ Sport – Phillip Wilson
■ Youth – Alex Stewart
■ World Class Welly Award – Jane Campion
■ Spirit of Wellington Award – awarded posthumously to Jemima Gazley
■ Wellingtonian of the Year – Teresea Olsen
of the most successful vaccination programmes in the country. ‘‘I want to accept this award on behalf of all those who worked hard to rid our community of Covid ... to all of those who stood beside me, working seven days a week, to all the doctors and nurses still working hard now, to rid our community of Covid.’’
As well as the vaccination programme, Olsen played a significant role supporting foodbanks across the region, as well as successfully standing her ground when protesters threatened the Wainuiomata Marae.
Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said the award was well deserved.
‘‘Teresea Olsen is an absolute force of nature, one of those people in the community, who gets things happening ... it is people like Teresea that mean we have had such a positive Covid experience as a country.’’
Of Nga¯ ti Porou descent, Olsen is based at the Ko¯ kiri Marae in Seaview, where she leads a large team of social and health workers. Her family moved to Wainuiomata when she was a youngster and their garage became the centre of the Ma¯ori community. Ralph and Keriana installed a strong sense of wha¯ nau that was at the core of everything she did, Olsen said.
They played a leading role in building the Wainuiomata Marae and serving the community, has been her mission all her adult life.
With years of experience helping disadvantaged Ma¯ori in Wainuiomata, Olsen instinctively knew that Covid was potentially devastating for a community that was sometimes reluctant or unable to seek help.
In June last year, she persuaded the Wainuiomata Marae to allow her to take over their marae, to use as a vaccination centre and hub to support foodbanks.
Working with Common Unity in Lower Hutt, Olsen also helped distribute thousands of cooked meals and food parcels. It was her work, however, vaccinating vulnerable communities that was her greatest achievement. As well as a mobile bus, she also used vans to go to areas like Stokes Valley and Pomare, and isolated areas in Upper Hutt, where vaccination rates were low. Happy to talk to people who were reluctant to be vaccinated, she went as far as putting her cellphone number on social media.
In March, she faced the protesters who challenged the marae after they were evicted from Parliament. Police made Olsen aware that the protesters were looking at occupying the