46 | FORESTRY PF Olsen Ltd: 50th Anniversary Forestry services business turns 50 Richard Loader to page 48 Enduring businesses are forged from the anvil of courage and vision — something that Peter Francis Olsen knew when he founded PF Olsen Ltd just a little over fifty years ago. Founded in 1971 and based in a small office in Ngongotaha on the western shores of Lake Rotorua, 10 kilometres northwest of Rotorua city, the emerging operation was initially focused on planting and silviculture activities. From a background in forestry, Peter saw a need to lift the level of professionalism and knowledge afforded to the non-corporate forest owning network that included, farmers, investors, councils, government departments and iwi. At that time PF Olsen’s primary client was Caxton Forest and Peter saw a niche for small forest owners to receive the same level of forestry management as New Zealand’s large corporate forests. With a reputation for doing things for the common good PF Olsen Ltd steadily grew, establishing a lot of forest in Gisborne during the ‘90s planting boom, and embraced all things forestry throughout New Zealand. Now employing 145 staff, hundreds of contracting crews and providing employment opportunities for thousands of forestry workers within those crews, the company founded by Peter looks after 160,000 hectares around the country, harvesting three to four million tonnes per year. Sales and Marketing Director Scott Downs says the really exciting and rewarding thing is that some staff are now involved in the harvest of forests they planted for the same clients. “We have positioned ourselves as a company that can offer the best financial solution for a landowner who wants to put part of the land into trees.” HOLMESGROUP www.holmesgroup.co.nz Proud to partner with PF Olsen
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