Sir John Douglas Kelso Grant (born 17 October 1954) is a retired British diplomat whose last diplomatic post was

Permanent Representative A permanent representative is a diplomat who is the head of a country’s diplomatic mission to an international organisation. Organizations that receive permanent representatives from their member states include the United Nations, the World Tr ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

between 2003 and 2007. He now has a small number of part-time advisory roles.

Education

Grant was born in Singapore and educated at the

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is an Independent school (United Kingdom), independent day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in the city's New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, is now part of the Se ...

and

St Catharine's College, Cambridge St Catharine's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1473 as Katharine Hall, it adopted its current name in 1860. The college is nicknamed "Catz". The college is located in the historic city-centre of Camb ...

, 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 to 2009, was executive vice-president, policy and corporate affairs, at BG Group from 2009 to 2015, and vice-president, international government relations, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation from 2015 to 2019.

Offices held

References

1954 births Living people People educated at Edinburgh Academy Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge Permanent Representatives of the United Kingdom to the European Union Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Sweden Principal Private Secretaries to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Members of HM Diplomatic Service 20th-century British diplomats {{UK-diplomat-stub