Hendrick Anton Herbert ("Hank") Driessen was a PhD student of the Research School of Pacific Studies. He began his enrollment at the Australian National University in 1978, and submitted his PhD thesis, From Ta'aroa to 'oro : an exploration of themes in the traditional culture and history of the Leeward Society Islands, in 1991. His PhD was conferred on 14 August 1992. He conducted fieldwork in the Society Islands over a number of years, and collected an archive of his research. He worked for many years at the National Archives of New Zealand, beginning as an archivist, and advancing to the head of Outreach Services and Exhibitions. He was a founding Council member of the New Zealand Society of Archivists from its inception in 1989 and served on the Council until 2000. Towards the end of his life, he returned to Australia, where he died in 2021.