diff --git a/cmd/main.go b/cmd/main.go
index f529a0836..a77b6223f 100644
--- a/cmd/main.go
+++ b/cmd/main.go
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ func main() {
 	flag.BoolVar(&enableHTTP2, "enable-http2", false,
 		"If set, HTTP/2 will be enabled for the metrics and webhook servers")
 	opts := zap.Options{
-		Development: true,
+		Development: false,
 	}
 	opts.BindFlags(flag.CommandLine)
 	flag.Parse()
diff --git a/deployments/helm/k8s-nim-operator/templates/_helpers.tpl b/deployments/helm/k8s-nim-operator/templates/_helpers.tpl
index 08b4bafc5..c7702e783 100644
--- a/deployments/helm/k8s-nim-operator/templates/_helpers.tpl
+++ b/deployments/helm/k8s-nim-operator/templates/_helpers.tpl
@@ -56,3 +56,28 @@ Full image name with tag
 {{- define "k8s-nim-operator.fullimage" -}}
 {{- .Values.operator.image.repository -}}:{{- .Values.operator.image.tag | default (printf "v%s" .Chart.AppVersion) -}}
 {{- end }}
+
+{{/*
+Return merged operator args with zap logging args
+*/}}
+{{- define "k8s-nim-operator.fullArgs" -}}
+{{- $op := .Values.operator | default dict -}}
+{{- $log := $op.log | default dict -}}
+
+{{- $zapDevel   := $log.development     | default false -}}
+{{- $zapLevel   := $log.level           | default "info" -}}
+{{- $zapStack   := $log.stacktraceLevel | default "error" -}}
+{{- $zapEncoder := $log.encoder         | default "json" -}}
+
+{{- $args := list -}}
+{{- range ($op.args | default (list)) }}
+  {{- $args = append $args . -}}
+{{- end -}}
+
+{{- $args = append $args (printf "--zap-devel=%v" $zapDevel) -}}
+{{- $args = append $args (printf "--zap-log-level=%s" $zapLevel) -}}
+{{- $args = append $args (printf "--zap-stacktrace-level=%s" $zapStack) -}}
+{{- $args = append $args (printf "--zap-encoder=%s" $zapEncoder) -}}
+
+{{- toYaml $args -}}
+{{- end }}
diff --git a/deployments/helm/k8s-nim-operator/templates/deployment.yaml b/deployments/helm/k8s-nim-operator/templates/deployment.yaml
index 733f1b8ba..d0147f648 100644
--- a/deployments/helm/k8s-nim-operator/templates/deployment.yaml
+++ b/deployments/helm/k8s-nim-operator/templates/deployment.yaml
@@ -28,7 +28,8 @@ spec:
         {{- end }}
     spec:
       containers:
-      - args: {{- toYaml .Values.operator.args | nindent 8 }}
+      - args:
+        {{- include "k8s-nim-operator.fullArgs" . | nindent 8 }}
         command:
         - /manager
         image: {{ include "k8s-nim-operator.fullimage" . }}
diff --git a/deployments/helm/k8s-nim-operator/values.yaml b/deployments/helm/k8s-nim-operator/values.yaml
index 248116acd..4fca483a2 100644
--- a/deployments/helm/k8s-nim-operator/values.yaml
+++ b/deployments/helm/k8s-nim-operator/values.yaml
@@ -10,6 +10,15 @@ operator:
     - --health-probe-bind-address=:8081
     - --metrics-bind-address=:8080
     - --leader-elect
+  log:
+    # Enable development mode
+    development: false
+    # Log verbosity level (debug | info | warn | error | dpanic | panic | fatal)
+    level: info
+    # Stacktrace generation level (debug | info | warn | error | dpanic | panic | fatal)
+    stacktraceLevel: error
+    # Log encoder format (json|console)
+    encoder: json
   resources:
       limits:
         cpu: "1"