"At around 12.30pm, he was seen by police in Te Teko and chased."
A police dog unit was also unsuccessful in tracking him, but he was found at a Kawerau address and arrested about 5.30pm today.
Department of Corrections Central Region Commissioner Terry Buffery said an alert was triggered when the man escaped and that "staff responded within agreed time frames".
"Police were then contacted and they [were] actively searching for this offender.
"When he's apprehended he will be held to account and may face court charges."
This month, convicted child sex offender David Livingstone removed his electronic monitoring bracelet to escape his Wellington abode.
Last year Tony Robertson murdered and raped North Shore woman Blessie Gotingco while on monitored release for child sex offending.
There are currently 3232 offenders on the electronic monitoring system introduced in February, of which 1832 are also monitored via a real-time GPS system.
Corrections has used a monitoring system since 1999 for offenders serving community based sentences, orders or bail.
Prior to February, the service was run by three contracted suppliers.
The man has tonight been arrested by Kawerau police staff with the assistance of a police dog team and is in custody.
He was apprehended at around 5.30pm hiding at a local address.
