Karen Olsen Reveals The Real Reason She Left TVNZ...

She ended her 22-year career at TVNZ under a cloud of rumours.

But Karen Olsen has revealed why she made the shock decision to leave her weather-presenting role at TVNZ: she didn't want to work weekends.

Olsen, 49, tells this week's edition of Woman's Weekly that changes to her role under restructuring at TVNZ meant she would be working more Saturdays and Sundays and she didn't want to be away from her family.

"I didn't want to sacrifice time with my children ... our weekends are precious," Olsen tells the magazine.

"It came out of the blue and it wasn't a decision I wanted to make - I love my job. I'm such a weather nerd that it was perfect for me. So it was quite sad."

Olsen completed her last weather forecast for One News on November 16, ending a 22-year career with the network.

One News presenter Simon Dallow paid tribute to Olsen at the time, calling her "gracious, humble and warm and the absolute weather professional".

Olsen told Woman's Weekly her exit had been so quick she'd had no time to find new employment, but she'd like to return to television.

"This has all been quite sudden, so I haven't really had time to look into anything else. But I really do believe that when one door closes, another opens."

Olsen said she had no hard feelings towards TVNZ and she was looking forward to spending more time with her two children, aged 16 and 14, over the summer.

- nzherald.co.nz