Horace Henry Ayres OBE (31 July 1912 – 16 July 1987), better known as Harry Herbert Ayres and with his surname sometimes spelled Ayers, was a New Zealand mountaineer and guide, gardener. He was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, on 31 July 1912. He was a mentor to Edmund Hillary, who had proposed him to Eric Shipton as a member of the 1953 British Mount Everest expedition. In the 1981 New Year Honours, Ayres was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for services to mountaineering.