"It's been a rapid-fire 12 months. It's been a huge 12-months," Mr O'Connor told the Otago Daily Times.
The Dunedin-based man who taught and studied for almost five decades was asked to come out of retirement and take the reins of the only secondary school in Queenstown, its 700 pupils and about 70 staff, for one term, then another term and finally all four.
"It's allowed the place to settle, not with any claims about my commitment to it, so that it makes a really good platform for a new leader to come in, because there was a lot of grief here last year."
Principal Lyn Cooper suddenly departed from the school on September 21, 2011, after Christchurch employment lawyer Peter MacDonald was appointed by the Ministry of Education in June last year to tackle "divisions in communication within the senior management structure", highlighted in a damning Education Review Office report.
Mr O'Connor said that before he arrived it was a "scary prospect". He had heard the high school was a hostile environment long before he was invited to take the interim post.
However, the school was not as difficult to run as he had imagined when he became "caretaker", as he described his role.
"It was very different. I came into a situation where a principal had been asked to leave and there were people who were close to that principal and supported her and there were people who were upset by the whole process," he said.
He was confronted with issues he had never had to contend with before and, while the school had not split into factions, "people were talking past each other", he said.
Mr O'Connor said that during his tenure at Wakatipu High he learned how things could go wrong if basic principles were not followed.
"Always try to walk in the other person's shoes, absolutely fundamental, and try and hear everybody, why they're saying it, and work towards consensus.
"That doesn't mean the leader absolves responsibilities at all, you've got to take decisions, but when you do, when you know taking a decision is going to bruise somebody, then articulate why you are doing it clearly and have the guts to stand up and do it."
Despite dealing with a school "with some bad habits", Mr O'Connor said the standard of education pupils received at Wakatipu High did not suffer.
"The school peeled off a bucket-load of scholarships. The senior students I saw leaving the school at the end of last year were just superb ambassadors for their school."
With new principal Steve Hall starting work yesterday, Mr O'Connor said real changes in the school would now take place.
"I've had the privilege of working with the board on the appointment, so I have met him and I've enjoyed his company and I really love what he represents."
Mr O'Connor was principal of James Hargest College in Invercargill for 17 years before retiring three years ago.
He said he returned to his "amazingly patient" wife and their new home in Dunedin on Friday.
"I've got five grandchildren who've just come back to New Zealand, so I'm looking forward to doing my granddad bit with them," he said.
"I've got other work where I mentor principals and work with the next generation of principals. That needs some attention, and I'll see what goes around."
