Alison Holst is a New Zealand cooking icon. She made her first national television cooking program in 1965, and published her first bestselling cookbook the year after this.

Since this time she has published more than 75 popular cookbooks which have sold over 3 million copies, and is well known for her TV appearances, newspaper columns, magazine articles, radio broadcasts and cooking demonstrations. In 1983, Alison received a Queen's Service Medal for Services to the Community.