People from Ōpunake

Sir Peter George Snell KNZM OBE (17 December 1938 – 12 December 2019) was a New Zealand middle-distance runner. He won three Olympic gold medals, and is the only man since 1920 to have won the 800 and 1500 metres at the same Olympics, in 1964.

Carl Joseph Hayman (born 14 November 1979) is a retired New Zealand rugby union footballer who played at tighthead prop. Hayman has previously played for the Highlanders in Super Rugby, Otago in the NPC, and Newcastle Falcons in the English Premiership, as well as making 45 appearances for New Zealand at international level. Hayman announced his retirement from professional rugby in January 2015, aged 35.

Craig Michael Barrett (born 16 November 1971, in Opunake) is a New Zealand athlete specialising in racewalking. He was the dominant racewalker in New Zealand for many years and is the nation's record holder for the 3 km, 20 km, 30 km, 50 km and 2-hour disciplines. He attended the Olympic Games in Atlanta (1996), Sydney (2000) and Athens (2004). He won a silver medal in the 50 km walk at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

Jacqueline Cecilia Sturm, also known as Jacqueline Baxter and Te Kare Papuni (17 May 1927 – 30 December 2009) was a poet and writer of short stories. She was born in Opunake, Taranaki, New Zealand, and was one of the first Māori women to complete an undergraduate university degree, at Victoria University College, followed by an MA in Philosophy. Her stories were published in several New Zealand literature collections and student magazines in the 1950s and early 1960s, but not again until 1983 when a woman's publishing collective printed her stories as 'The House of the Talking Cat'.

Philip Shane Ardern (born 26 January 1960) is a New Zealand politician. He is a member of the National Party and represented the electorate of Taranaki-King Country from 1998 to 2014. He is a distant cousin of New Zealand Prime Minister and Labour MP Jacinda Ardern.

James Brendan Bolger ONZ PC ( BUL-jər; born 31 May 1935) is a New Zealand politician of the National Party who was the 35th Prime Minister of New Zealand, serving from 1990 to 1997.

Marianne Muggeridge (born 1952) is a New Zealand painter and screenprinter based in Taranaki. She is best known for portraits of notable New Zealanders, cityscapes and landscapes.

Mary St Domitille Hickey (13 April 1882–20 June 1958) was a New Zealand Catholic nun, school principal and historian. She was born in Opunake, Taranaki, New Zealand on 13 April 1882.

Sir Roderick Sheldon Deane KNZM (born 8 April 1941) is a New Zealand economist, public sector reformer, and businessman. He served as deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, and as CEO and chairman of the country's largest telecommunications company, Telecom New Zealand.

Graham Neil Kenneth Mourie MBE (born 8 September 1952 in Opunake, Taranaki, New Zealand) is a former New Zealand All Black flanker and coach of the Hurricanes. He was one of the great All Black captains in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He was first selected for the All Blacks in 1976, captaining a second-string New Zealand team that toured South America. He was selected again for the All Blacks against the touring British Lions in 1977, and captained the side to France later that year, replacing Tane Norton as captain.