If Walter sticks around for the next two years he will have been in charge of the side for five years.
Walter is a hard-working coach who has had his share of tough journeys in the three years he has been in charge.
Otago had lost a raft of veteran players over the past five years and some of those who had been hallmarked to replace them have either failed to come to the party or moved on elsewhere.
In his first three years, Walter has failed to land a trophy although the side made the one-day final last season.
Otago Cricket Association chief executive Mike Coggan was pleased to have secured the services of Walter for a further two summers.
"Rob is an outstanding and experienced coaching technician who has the full support of the playing squad. We have total belief in the structure and quality of the current set-up led by Rob and the vision he has set out for both our men's professional team and the associated pathway feeding the Otago Volts,'' Coggan said.
Under the terms of the master agreement between the major associations and New Zealand Cricket, Otago Cricket has carried out an extensive process involving the New Zealand Cricket Players' Association and New Zealand Cricket high performance department prior to re-signing Walter.
Otago Cricket's manager performance and talent Simon Forde was responsible for leading the process.
"Rob has done a huge amount of work within the Volts environment to date. His knowledge and experience is invaluable. He's a world-class coach. The players are excited to have his appointment confirmed,'' Forde said.
The Otago Volts are in the middle of a transitional period with the departure over the past two seasons of some experienced players.
The likes of Jimmy Neesham, Derek de Boorder, Neil Wagner, Michael Bracewell and Rob Nicol have all retired or moved on. Opening batsman Brad Wilson has retired while fast bowler Warren Barnes is taking a break from the game.
Otago has been working on bringing new players into the teams although it has struggled in the longer version of the game.
It finished bottom of the Plunket Shield two of the past three seasons - winning four out of the past 28 four-day games.
It has fared better in the shorter form of the games, making the final of the one-day competition last season before losing to Wellington in a nail-biter at the University of Otago Oval.
Walter is excited about the talent coming through.
"I am very excited by the next phase of the journey. We have navigated through some tough times as a province and this year we started to show some very positive signs as a team and it will now be vital for us to maintain this momentum and progress even further as a province.
"I am very grateful to have been entrusted to take the team through this next phase and having the support of the players and staff is very humbling.
Walter will continue to be contracted by NZC until the end of August, at which point NZC will not continue its coach centralisation pilot and Otago Cricket will contract Walter's services.
His first job will be to secure players for next season.
- Auckland Cricket yesterday announced the appointment of Heinrich Malan as the new Auckland coach. He takes over from Mark O'Donnell.
Malan was thought to be in the running as the Black Caps new batting coach.
