John Grant (British diplomat)

Sir John Douglas Kelso Grant KCMG (born 17 October 1954) is a retired British diplomat whose last diplomatic post was Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the European Union between 2003 and 2007.[1] Since 2016 he has held the position of Vice-President, International Government Relations at Anadarko Petroleum Corporation.[2] He is a member of the Scottish Government’s Standing Council on Europe,[3] a member of the Advisory Board of the Centre for European Reform[4] and a Senior Adviser to PWC on Brexit.[5]

Sir John Grant KCMG
Principal Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
In office 1997–1999
Preceded by	Sir William Ehrman
Succeeded by	Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles
Personal details
Born	(1954-10-17) 17 October 1954
Alma mater	St Catharine's College, Cambridge

Education

Grant was born in Singapore and educated at the Edinburgh Academy and St Catharine's College, Cambridge, where he read French and German.

Career

Grant’s first postings were in Stockholm (1977–1980) and Moscow (1982–1984). After 18 months with Morgan Grenfell, a London-based merchant bank, he returned to the Foreign Office as a press officer. He was posted to Brussels in 1989 and spent most of the next eight years working there in three different roles.

He was Principal Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary from 1997 to 1999 and served as British Ambassador to Sweden from 1999 to 2003.

Grant was then appointed UK Permanent Representative to the European Union. He chaired the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) during Britain’s Presidency of the EU in 2005.

After leaving the Foreign Office in 2007 Grant worked for BHP Billiton in London from 2007–2009 and was Executive Vice-President, Policy and Corporate Affairs, at BG Group from 2009 to 2015.

Offices held

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Sir William Ehrman	Principal Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary 1997-1999	Succeeded by Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles
Preceded by Sir John Ure	British Ambassador to Sweden 1999–2003	Succeeded by Anthony Cary
Preceded by Sir Nigel Sheinwald	UK Permanent Representative to the European Union 2003-2007	Succeeded by Sir Kim Darroch

References

1. A & C Black (2012). "GRANT, Sir John Douglas Kelso". Who's Who 2012, online edition. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
2. "Sir John Grant". Anadarko Petroleum Corp. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
3. "New members on Standing Council on Europe - First Minister of Scotland". First Minister of Scotland. 17 November 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
4. "Advisory board". Centre for European Reform. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
5. "Brexit negotiations are starting - what happens now? - Public sector matters". pwc.blogs.com. Retrieved 19 December 2017.