Phil Rasmussen

Technical Director
M.Pharm., M.P.S., Dip. Herb. Med.; M.N.I.M.H.(UK),  F.N.Z.A.M.H.

Phil is an experienced Medical Herbalist with a busy clinic in Auckland where he has practiced since 1995. Before pursuing herbal medicine he worked for more than ten years as a pharmacist, and undertook research on antidepressant drugs and serotonin for a Masters degree in Pharmacology. He is a regular lecturer at several naturopathic and herbal colleges, presented at conferences in New Zealand, Australia and the UK, and written extensively on herbal subjects for both practitioner and consumer publications, for many years. Phil is an Honorary Senior Lecturer in Pharmacy at the University of Auckland, and was Deputy Chair of the Interim Expert Advisory Committee on Complementary & Alternative Medicines (IEACCAM), established by the Australian and New Zealand governments between 2006 and 2008.

Phil founded Phytomed Medicinal Herbs Ltd in 1998 to produce high quality, NZ-made herbal medicines for health practitioners, and in 2000 the Kiwiherb brand was launched as the retail offering of Phytomed Medicinal Herbs. As well as providing leadership & governance in the business, Phil is passionate about research and heads the Technical team, creating premium formulations based on traditional evidence validated by good science. 

Phil was brought up in Tokomaru Bay and Gisborne on the East Coast of the North Island of New Zealand, where there is a strong Maori population and there used to be more sheep than people, but nowadays there’s more Manuka and horticulture. From a young age he was exposed to growing things, including his parents who competed with each other to try and have the best tomatoes on the plate for Christmas day. However, it was only when he went to the UK and began to study Phytotherapy and for several years grew herbs and veges at allotments, that he learnt most about growing things.

Phil now lives on a half-acre property in West Auckland, not far from the Phytomed office and manufacturing facility in Avondale, and still loves to get his hands in the soil.