NZer of the year: Kiwis who made their mark

Warren Larsen

Former Dairy Board chief executive Warren Larsen was the key to forming New Zealand's biggest company, Fonterra.

He remained past his May retirement date to shepherd the industry to the crucial farmer vote, when his mana and convincing words swung many voters who had previously been undecided about what was a momentous move.

With that in the bag Larsen clinched what was possibly New Zealand's biggest commercial deal, between Fonterra and Swiss dairy giant Nestle. The deal had been more than two years in the making and rested on Larsen's personal groundwork with Nestle chief executive Peter Brabeck-Letmathe.

The joint venture, which will have almost $2 billion in sales, allows New Zealand to penetrate the previously unassailable North and South American markets.

Valerie Adams

We rarely have the chance to celebrate world ranking performances in track and field athletics but 16-year-old Valerie Adams beat an international field to claim the under-18 shot put gold medal at the World Youth Championships in Debrecen in Hungary. Standing at 1.93m, the imposing youngster has great potential Asked if she thought she would win the world title, she said: "Honestly? Yes." But she showed a human touch within hours of her return by taking all her flowers of welcome to the grave of her mother, who died in September last year, saying, "All my success goes to her, no matter what happens".

Sheila Laxon

We have come to take for granted that New Zealand bred or trained horses will do well in the Melbourne Cup, one of the few events on the world racing calendar that can bring a nation to a stop.

But Sheila Laxon's triumph this year, completing a Caulfield Cup double with Ethereal, was a victory that will live in the memory. She was, of course, a history maker as the first woman trainer officially to take the trophy. But her unaffected charm and pleasure in her success, after a life which had known adversity, delighted the hard-nosed Australian media and the wider public alike.

Mike Moore

When he was Minister of Trade and even Prime Minister, Mike Moore's unstoppable flow of enthusiasm sometimes made it hard to take him seriously. But as Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, he has one of the most serious, and difficult, jobs on the planet and he has done it superbly. The world leaders who launched the new trade round in Doha gave most of the credit to Moore's tremendous political skills. His attacks on critics of globalisation as "dangerous protectionists and populists" upset some at home, but if the WTO round succeeds in freeing up trade in agriculture and forestry, it will bring huge benefits to New Zealand.

Stephen Tindall

Stephen Tindall inspired the "Catching the Knowledge Wave" conference in Auckland in August by declaring that he had personally invested more than $100 million in New Zealand venture capital funds and business start-ups such as Deep Video Imaging and Peter Witehira's latest venture, U-Clic.

He and Berkeley professor David Teece gave $100,000 to kick-start a Kiwi Expat Association. He lent $2 million to get Massey University's new "e-centre" at Albany under way and is a driving force behind Auckland's "Innovation Harbour" vision and Prime Minister Helen Clark's innovation package due to be unveiled in February.

Neil Finn

By any score Neil Finn had a big year. The music industry voted his hit Don't Dream It's Over New Zealand's second-greatest song after Wayne Mason's Nature. There was a second solo album One Nil, the soundtrack to the movie Rain, a couple of books (one photos, one lyrics) and a tour which flushed out the latent musical talent of the nation when he signed on local musicians as his pick-up band for the night.

In April, he played a season at St James with a multinational supergroup, which included members of three of the most important American and English rock bands of the past 15 years - a fine tribute to his status - and headlined a Fred Hollows Foundation fundraiser.

And as the year closed Neil and his older brother Tim were awarded honorary doctorates from Waikato University.

Russell Crowe

The Lord of the Rings might have dimmed the achievement in our memory, but Russell Crowe's first Best Actor Oscar (for Gladiator) has barely left his clutches since he picked it up in March. We say "first" because the 37-year-old's performance in the upcoming A Beautiful Mind also has him tipped for next year's Oscars, as well as winning a Golden Globe nomination. This proves that Kiwi Crowe should stick to his knitting, and ditch band 30 Odd Foot Of Grunts, whose album was voted worst of the year in his adopted home, Australia. Crowe's unconventional Oscar acceptance speech might have gone down better Down Under than it did with some of his Hollywood audience and his dress sense stamped him as a man to ignore conventions.

Tarryn Pitzer

Teenagers who spend hours on the internet are usually seen as anti-social, but Waiuku 16-year-old Tarryn Pitzer turned her time in front of the screen to good use. As a member of the online advice agency Teenhelp she has helped scores of troubled youngsters and that experience helped her to recognise one online contact in Pennsylvania as a real threat. Her suspicions brought in Interpol and then the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who swooped on her contact and confirmed him as "a likely schoolyard shooter". The perceptive young New Zealander received a commendation from the FBI, whose director, Louis J. Freeh, said: "In an era when too many people do not want to get involved, it is refreshing to learn of your commitment to helping make our world a better and safer one."

Sir Thomas Eichelbaum

The job of heading the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification was never going to be easy but chairman Sir Thomas Eichelbaum proved up to the job. One of his biggest challenges was mastering a staggering volume of information- the formal hearings alone produced 4600 pages of transcripts covering health and environmental objections and social, cultural and ethical concerns. Sir Thomas summed it up modestly as an "exhaustive debate" but was still able to deliver a readable, conscientious and coherent - if controversial - final report.

2001 – The year in review