Les Mills Snr
Founder, Les Mills
Les Mills Snr (Leslie Roy Mills, 1 November 1934 – 29 June 2026) was a New Zealand Olympian, businessman and politician, and the founder of the Les Mills gyms in Auckland. The global group-fitness brand that still carries his name was later built by his son Phillip Mills and daughter-in-law Jackie.
Born in Auckland, he represented New Zealand in the shot put and discus across four Olympic Games and won five Commonwealth medals, including discus gold in Kingston in 1966. His national shot put record of 19.81m, set in 1967, stood for 44 years. He was appointed an MBE in 1973 and a CNZM in 2002.
In 1968 he and his wife Colleen opened Les Mills World of Fitness, a family gym that grew into a New Zealand chain of about 12 gyms, with its flagship on Auckland’s Victoria Street. He served as Mayor of Auckland City from 1990 to 1998, then returned to help steady the international business as licensed programmes such as BODYPUMP spread worldwide.
Les Mills Snr is survived by a fitness company that, according to lesmills.com, now teaches workouts in more than 22,000 clubs with a community of about 130,000 instructors. More of the story is in Who is Les Mills?
About this profile
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