Peter John Hayden MNZM (born 1948/49)[1] is a New Zealand actor, and television series writer, producer and presenter.

Hayden is known to New Zealand audiences as the writer and narrator of nature documentaries series including Wild South and Journeys Across Latitude 45.

[2] In 1973, Hayden graduated from the QE II Arts Council Drama School, and was an apprentice actor at Downstage Theatre for two years.

[13][14] Hayden has acted in theatre productions in Dunedin, Wellington and Auckland including performances of: The Sea, Oh Temperance, Marat/Sade, Tales from Hollywood, The Importance of Being Earnest, A Doll's House, Glorious Ruins, Oleanna, Horseplay, The Daylight Atheist, Leah, The Raft, Lysistrata, The Vertical Hour, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, A Short Cut To Happiness, The Motel, Other Desert Cities, Trees Beneath the Lake, Time Stands Still, Ladykillers, You Can Always Hand Them Back, Under the Mountain, and Winding Up.

[2] In the 2017 Queen’s Birthday Honours, Hayden was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to film and television.