Sarah Gardner, who is the executive director of waste and resource recovery at the New South Wales Environment Protection Authority in Sydney, will start the role on January 29.
The New Zealander's career also includes time in regional government, The Ministry for the Environment and the New Zealand Environmental Protection Authority.
Mr Woodhead said Ms Gardner had a range of experience dealing with ``quite complex projects''.
``With our work programme we have in front of us we thought Sarah would be a good mix with our group of staff.''
She was the first female chief executive of the council which was ``great'', Mr Woodhead said.
``We're clearly looking forward to working with Sarah.''
She was an experienced executive with knowledge in policy and planning, community communications, relevant legal frameworks, strategic leadership and team building, he said.
The council undertook a robust, thorough recruitment process, he said.
In a statement Ms Gardner said she was ``delighted'' to have been appointed and looked forward to relocating to Otago.
``While council has some important challenges to navigate, collaborative relationships with stakeholders and effective implementation of policies and plans will ensure we deliver the outcomes for the environment that are so important for the Otago region.''
Former chief executive Peter Bodeker ended his five years in the position last week.
He wanted to retain his role, but was not considered for the job by the council.
