Sir Geoffrey Owen (born 16 April 1934) is an English academic and journalist, who is the former editor of the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Ni ...

,'' and currently Head of Industrial Policy at Policy Exchange, the UK's leading Think Tank. He is also a Visiting Professor in Practice in the Department of Management, London School of Economics.

Early life

Geoffrey Owen is the son of L. G. Owen and the tennis player Violet Owen. He was also a tennis player and competed at

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

during the 1950s. Owen was educated at the

Dragon School ("Reach for the Sun") , established = 1877 , closed = , type = Preparatory day and boarding school and Pre-Prep school , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Emma Goldsm ...

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...

and

Balliol College Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the ...

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

. He served in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

for two years as part of the national service.

Career

He joined the ''Financial Times'' as a feature writer in 1958. He held several posts on that paper, including those of industrial correspondent, industrial editor, and US correspondent based in New York. Between 1968 and 1973, he left journalism, serving first as an executive in the

Industrial Reorganisation Corporation The Industrial Reorganisation Corporation was an entity established by the Government of the United Kingdom to reorganise British industry. History The corporation was established by the First Wilson ministry in 1966 with the objective of encouragi ...

and then as personnel director in the overseas division of

British Leyland Motor Corporation British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It was partly ...

. He was deputy editor of the ''Financial Times'' from 1973 to 1980 and editor from 1981 to 1990. He was knighted in 1989. He was a non-executive director of Laird Group plc from 2001 to the end of 2006.

Personal life

He is married to literary editor

Miriam Gross Miriam Gross, Lady Owen is a literary editor and writer. She was the deputy literary editor of ''The Observer'' from 1969-81, the women's editor of ''The Observer'' from 1981-84, the arts editor of ''The Daily Telegraph'' from 1986-91, and the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Owen, Geoffrey Living people 1934 births People educated at The Dragon School People educated at Rugby School Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford English male journalists Financial Times editors Knights Bachelor Academics of the London School of Economics Honorary Fellows of the London School of Economics British male tennis players English male tennis players