Philanthropy

Sir Owen established the Glenn Family Foundation (GFF) in the early 1980’s. 

Mr. Jimmy Keir introduced Sir Owen to Caritas in the old Portuguese enclave in Macau. As a result of a donation generously given by Sir Owen, GFF rapidly expanded with the main focus on serving the people living in the villages of West Bengal, India. It was here that Sir Owen’s vision of helping whole communities by improving their health and well-being in a tangible, direct way took root. He spent the next 20 years making significant donations, supporting innovative projects, and delivering basic need supplies such as water filtration systems, latrines, spectacles, and other essentials to communities primarily in Australasia and India.

Sir Owen has supported the Millennium Institute of Sport and Health in New Zealand which opened in 2002.  He has been a key component in ensuring that high performance athletes of New Zealand have the necessary facilities and environment to train at and to stay competitive with the rest of the high-performance sports in the world; this facility is also a focal point for community health and well-being.  Mike Stanley CNZM, Chief Executive of Millennium Institute of Sport and Health and President of the NZ Olympic Committee stated that “the funding Owen agreed to through his foundation has allowed for an objective assessment on the best ‘Centre of Excellence’ model for New Zealand, especially in terms of facilities and service and to allow us to explore financial modelling options.”  At the opening of the Sir Owen Glenn Aquatic Centre in 2017, the then Minister of Sport, the Honourable Murray McCully CNZM, stated that without Sir Owen’s support of $2.7M the project could not have come to fruition. 

In 2003, Sir Owen supported the Auckland University Leigh Marine Laboratory with a $500,000 donation. Sir Owen stated that, “I made my living from the ocean, so it was nice to be able to support this particular initiative.”

In 2005, he made one of the largest private sector donations amounting to $7.5M for the University of Auckland Business School. Sir Owen stated, “I believe in its plans to develop a world-class facility and world class research and teaching programmes that are going to be huge benefit to New Zealand business and society.” Due to his generosity the building was named after him.

In 2017 Sir Owen created the GFF H.E.L.P.S. program.  It is a programme that offers ambitious young adults the opportunity to serve the underprivileged and those in need. H.E.L.P.S. stands for Health, Education, Love, Protection and Spirituality; the chosen representatives have all reasonable expenses paid and are offered a sizable honorarium for their 6 months of service in the field.

Though only a few of the large philanthropic efforts have been listed above, over the last two decades, Sir Owen has contributed in excess of $50M to philanthropic endeavours across the globe and to a variety of causes, including individuals he spontaneously meets, then enriches their lives.  Sir Owen who came from humble beginnings now garners international recognition for his success and generosity.