The Legend of Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma previously revealed that he got the job working on the series after its creator Shigeru Miyamoto saw similarities between it and his directorial debut.
Before Ocarina of Time, Aonuma had only directed one game, the Japan-only SNES release, Marvelous: Another Treasure Island, which took inspiration from A Link to the Past. In a 2005 issue of Edge, Aonuma recalled, "Marvelous was said to be similar to The Legend Of Zelda in terms of gameplay, and as a matter of fact... I really wanted to incorporate some essence of Zelda into it."
And whether this was his way of manifesting it or mere coincidence, he recalls that afterwards Miyamoto approached him to ask if he'd be interested in working on Zelda, "I said: Yes!" and then the rest was history. He would go on to be responsible for dungeon design in the 1998 epic.
This would pay off, of course, as you could argue that Eiji Aonuma is probably the person who has been the most important aspect of The Legend Of Zelda, with half of its 40 years being shepherded by him as series producer, and 28 of those years having him on board. He debuted in the series as one of the directors of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – y'know what a lot of people consider the best game ever made – and then going on to co-direct Majora's Mask and go solo for The Wind Waker (two more of the best games ever made, for those keeping score).
