The 33-year-old replaces Dimitri Mascarenhas, who has joined the Black Caps staff as a bowling coach.
King has been the Otago assistant coach for the past three summers and had a short stint as interim coach in 2014 when Vaughn Johnson resigned.
He was overlooked for the role last season, but the Otago Cricket Association board believes King is ready to assume the reins and decided against advertising the position.
‘‘We had to weigh up a number of things, not the least being to advertise externally,'' chief executive Mike Coggan said.
‘‘But we have total belief in Nathan . . . and, also, we had a desire to see some consistency in terms of the coaching structure.''
King, who is Otago's third coach in three seasons, has had a thorough apprenticeship. He has coached the Otago Sparks in the past and also assisted the White Ferns for two years, including during the 2012 Women's World Twenty20 tournament.
He holds an NZC Level 3 coaching qualification.
‘‘Nathan is hugely motivated and deserves this opportunity. We believe he will continue to grow the credibility and performance of the Volts across all forms of cricket''.
King could not be reached for comment but in a press release said he was excited about the opportunity.
‘‘I am extremely passionate about Otago Cricket and grateful for the opportunity to coach the SBS Bank Otago Volts. I have been coaching for the past 15 years and believe I have the knowledge and ability to bring success to the team and assist with developing more Black Caps.''
King comes into the role at a time when the team is going through a rebuilding phase. Experienced opening batsman and the side's captain, Aaron Redmond, retired at the end of the season and will leave a void at the top of the order.
Jesse Ryder's future with the province is unclear. While the door remains open for Ryder to return, when he left he was described as not being ‘‘a hell of a happy chap'' by former chief executive Ross Dykes.
Other relatively recent departures have also weakened Otago. Experienced batsman Neil Broom transferred to Canterbury last season and seamer Ian Butler retired following the 2013-14 season.
Neil Wagner, Jimmy Neesham, Hamish Rutherford, Nathan McCullum and Mark Craig are all important players in the Otago set-up, but are in and out of the team depending on whether they are required for national duties.
King's lack of a playing pedigree is likely to attract criticism, but Coggan has no such reservations.
''People have likened it to Mike Hesson's appointment and Nathan is a highly educated and articulate fellow. He certainly has a cricket brain. But one of the things we must do is continue with the successes of the Volts and that will determine how he is perceived as a coach.
''We will put everything around Nathan to ensure he has the people around him to have a highly effective coaching team. It won't just be about Nathan.''
