Remembering Evan “Chow” Williams

Six years ago, South Otago’s rural transport community lost a true transport legend. Evan Williams, often called “Chow” was a stalwart of the industry since he entered transport as a young man.

A great level of ambition and drive saw Evan head to Northland straight out of school where he worked in Kauri harvesting and sheep shearing for a time.

After returning to Otago, himself and three other farmers established a small business of three trucks that would later be named Clutha Valley Transport, est. 1973.

Over his long career, Evan did it all – he ran straight rural carriers, linehaul, bulk fertiliser, spread fertiliser and phosphate, and transported livestock.

As a result he became known for his wide-ranging expertise and willingness to mentor others.

His son, Michael, now owns and directs Clutha Valley Transport. Evan’s grandsons – Michael’s sons – variously work as a driver, dispatcher, and a mechanic for Clutha Valley, keeping the Williams name and their grandfather’s memory alive.

Michael thinks his father’s advice to other transport operators would be something along the lines of, “Be clever in what you do to gain an edge.”

We asked Carey Turner, Evan’s business partner in Otago Transport Ltd the same question. His response: “He’d probably say, get out of it before I buy you out!”

Indeed, strategic thinking and an unrivalled work ethic are traits that many of Evan’s peers agree he possessed, and that made him hugely successful. According to Carey, Evan worked up to seven days a week right until he passed.

Carey attributes his career in road transport to Evan’s encouragement and mentorship.

“I wouldn’t be here today without Chow.”

Why was he called Chow? Carey didn’t know, but said he did shout lunch a few times.

“Bloody legend”

That was the first thing livestock agent Rob Fowler said about Chow. In Rob’s words, he was a guy who “got shit done”, read people well and had a broad business sense, often sharing knowledge and advice with others.

Rob spent a lot of time on the road with Evan and their conversations would usually be about rugby, politics, the share market, and land sales. Then back to rugby again.

Evan carried an undeniable mana about him that was hard to explain, Rob said. He was by all accounts a straight shooter who meant what he said and said what he meant. He liked dealing with ‘relatable people’ and not ‘shiny-shoed types’.

Rob remembers Evan assisting him with several legal cases where farmers hadn’t paid for stock. On one occasion he arrived at court in his work shorts. The judge was quite taken aback but his attire, but nevertheless, his confident presentation commanded respect.

Rob said that with Chow’s help, they never lost a case.

One of a kind

Richard Knight was Chow’s right-hand man at Clutha Valley Transport. He says that although Chow is no longer with us, he still feels as though he works for him after 27 years, such was the respect he had for the man and the legacy he left behind.

Richard spoke of a proud man with whom he shared a fantastic friendship. He believes they simply worked well together and enjoyed doing so. One memorable example was when Richard inherited one of Chow’s old utes.

While cleaning it out, he discovered $80 in coins. Richard recalled that when he told Chow about the find, “the bugger wanted the money back!”. Chow had a remarkable ability to connect with people from all walks of life.

“There’s no doubt Chow taught me a lot of good things, but probably as many bad things as well,” Richard said.

“We probably had three major rows in our time, and we felt we had each won one and a half of them.”

Richard said he still misses Chow and describes him as being truly “one of a kind.”

This story first appeared in the Winter 2026 edition of Transporting News.