Background
Rowlands was born in 1926, the third child of Ruby Winifred (née Harrison) and Horace Edward Rowlands, and was raised in the small town of Owhango where his father was a sawmill manager.
Rowlands was born in 1926, the third child of Ruby Winifred (née Harrison) and Horace Edward Rowlands, and was raised in the small town of Owhango where his father was a sawmill manager.
When aged five, Rowlands contracted rheumatic fever and had congested lungs, and missed a year"s school as a result. He was included in the New Zealand team for the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne but did not compete. He was chairman of the organising committee for the 1978 World Championships at Lake Karapiro and patron of the 2010 World Championships at the same venue.
Between 1974 and 1992, Rowlands was the New Zealand and Australian representative on the International Federation.
Rowlands began working for Fisher & Paykel as an assistant production engineer in 1948. He rose to become a director and chief executive of the company from 1978 to 2001.
He also served as the chairman of Mainfreight from 1983, and became a director of HamiltonJet in 1990.
In the 1973 New Year Honours Rowlands was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to rowing, and he was promoted to Commander of the same order in the 1979 Queen"s Birthday Honours. In the 2015 New Year Honours Rowlands was appointed a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to business and rowing. In the 2015 Australia Day Honours he was appointed an honorary Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to the sport of rowing. Rowlands was named as a member of the New Zealand Olympic Order in 1991. He won the leadership award at the 2005 Halberg awards. He was inducted into the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame in August 2014.
He was the vice-patron and a life member of New Zealand. In the 1973 New Year Honours Rowlands was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to rowing, and he was promoted to Commander of the same order in the 1979 Queen"s Birthday Honours. Rowlands was named as a member of the New Zealand Olympic Order in 1991.
