Emergency services were alerted to the incident on the Kaitangata Highway just after 8.40am.
An ODT reporter at the scene said the vehicle appeared to have left the highway near the intersection with The Crescent Rd, and settled on the bank beside the Clutha River.
Emergency personnel carried the driver to a waiting Otago Rescue Helicopter about 9.30am.
No one else was in the vehicle and no other vehicles were involved.
A police spokeswoman said a man aged in his 70s was being transported to hospital in a ‘‘critical condition’’.
The highway was blocked for a time and reopened about 10am.