Former editor of Christchurch’s The Press Andrew Holden has been honoured for his efforts during the city’s worst earthquake.

He received the Friend of New Zealand award – given to a non-Kiwi who has made an exceptional contribution to the country – in the 2013 World Class New Zealand Awards.

Following the February 22, 2011 earthquake in which one Fairfax Media NZ staff member died and others were trapped, Holden rallied team members to ensure locals were informed and the paper was still published.

Chairman of judges John Stace says Melbourne-born Andrew Holden – now returned to his home city as editor-in-chief of The Age – certainly fitted the award criterion: “He would have been well within his rights to stay home after he had ensured his partner and six-month-old baby were alive and well, but with incredible grit he drove back into the mayhem," he says.

"With much of the city’s infrastructure gone and people desperate for information, Andrew instinctively understood that a newspaper is a special kind of anchor in a crisis, and made sure it would fulfil that duty to citizens of the city. The next morning it came out, same as usual, belying the enormous effort required by Andrew and his staff to keep publishing."

After the paper’s 102-year-old offices in Cathedral Square were among the worst affected, The Press team regrouped at the paper’s new printing plant in Harewood and improvised networks and technology.

Holden began his career in newspapers as a paperboy, arriving in Christchurch in 2001.

The award was presented at a gala dinner on Friday. Seven category winners were honoured, with the top prize going to public servant Sir Don McKinnon, a past Commonwealth Secretary General, Nobel Peace Prize nominee, deputy prime minister and foreign affairs and trade minister.

Pictured: Andrew Holden at the PANPA conference in 2011