Restaurateur, author, and IGCAT expert from New Zealand, Robert Oliver joins the jury of IGCAT’s Food Film Menu 2026.
Robert Oliver MNZM is a New Zealand chef, author, television presenter and 2025 Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Alumnus. Raised in Fiji and Samoa, he has developed restaurants in New York, Miami, Las Vegas and Sydney, created farm-to-table resorts in the Caribbean, and led community food programmes in New York City.
His book Me’a Kai: The Food and Flavours of the South Pacific won Best Cookbook in the World at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, and he has appeared on numerous television programmes, including as a judge on My Kitchen Rules New Zealand. He is Chef Ambassador for Le Cordon Bleu New Zealand.
Robert is the Founder and Executive Director of Pacific Island Food Revolution, an internationally recognised television-led movement using entertainment to reconnect Pacific communities with traditional foodways, improving health, strengthening cultural identity, advancing food sovereignty, and building climate resilience.
Drawing on extensive experience in gastronomic communication, Robert explores how food stories can celebrate culture, amplify the voices of producers, and inspire meaningful social and behavioural change.
