Richard John Edward Patterson (born 30 April 1983) is a weightlifting competitor for New Zealand.

At the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi he won the silver medal in the men's 85 kg weightlifting event.

[1] Four years later, at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, he won the gold medal in the same event.

[3] To qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics Patterson had to rely on fellow New Zealand teammate Tavita Ngalu to lift 150 kg at the Oceania Championships.

In a selfless act Ngalu did so while injured with ripped quadriceps and New Zealand's highest ranked weightlifter (Patterson) qualified for the Games.