Bolger was born Joan Maureen Riddell in 1942. She trained and qualified as a schoolteacher, before marrying Jim Bolger at
Pungarehu on 25 May 1963. During the early years of her husband's political career, Bolger was mainly involved in raising the couple's children, and looking after the family home and farm near
Te Kūiti. As the children grew and her husband climbed the political ladder, she began to take an increasing role in public life. Initially, she carried out
National Party duties in her husband's
King Country electorate in his absence, but later became more involved in party affairs nationally as her husband became party leader, leader of the Opposition and eventually prime minister in 1990. As the wife of the prime minister, she frequently accompanied her husband on official visits abroad and carried out many official duties. She also found herself in demand as a public speaker, often giving talks about her overseas trips and the human side of human relations, During the
1993 general election campaign, Bolger had a melanoma removed, but returned to campaigning within two days. In 1997, Bolger formally commissioned the frigate
HMNZS Te Kaha into the
Royal New Zealand Navy. Later that year, she accompanied the
Māori Queen, Dame
Te Atairangikaahu, to a conference on moral re-armament in Switzerland, where they both spoke in a private capacity about the
Treaty of Waitangi settlement process. Bolger accompanied her husband in
Washington, D.C. during his tenure there as
New Zealand's ambassador to the United States between 1998 and 2002. Since 2013, the Bolgers have lived in
Waikanae. ==Honours and awards==