Sir John Andrew Harman DL (born 30 July 1950,

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins th ...

) is a former Chairman of the Environment Agency.

Early life

He attended the independent St George's College, Weybridge. From the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univ ...

he gained a

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

degree in maths, then did a PGCE at Huddersfield College of Education.

Career

He was a maths teacher at

Greenhead College Greenhead College is a sixth form college, and former grammar school, located in Huddersfield, in the county of West Yorkshire, England. The current principal is Simon Lett. With over 2,700 students, it is a large sixth form college, attractin ...

in Huddersfield from 1973–9. He was Head of Maths at Barnsley Sixth Form College from 1979–90, then Senior Maths Lecturer at

Barnsley College Barnsley College is a further education college just outside the town centre of Barnsley, England. It has several campuses, including the SciTech Digital Innovation Centre and The Electric Theatre. The college provides A Levels, apprenticesh ...

(it took over the sixth form college) from 1990–7. He became a member of the UK Labour Party from 1977 and was elected to the West Yorkshire Metropolitan Council. After the metropolitan councils were disbanded under

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

, he was elected to, and led,

Kirklees Council Kirklees Council is the local authority providing most local government services for the borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is a metropolitan district council and one of five constituent councils of the West Yorkshire Combined Aut ...

from 1986–99, during which he was Councillor for the

Paddock A paddock is a small enclosure for horses. In the United Kingdom, this term also applies to a field for a general automobile racing competition, particularly Formula 1. Description In Canada and the United States of America, a paddock is a small ...

ward of Huddersfield. At the 1987 General Election, he was the parliamentary candidate for

Colne Valley The Colne Valley is a steep sided valley on the east flank of the Pennine Hills in the English county of West Yorkshire. It takes its name from the River Colne which rises above the town of Marsden and flows eastward towards Huddersfield. ...

, west of Huddersfield, coming second to Graham Riddick of the Conservatives. In 2000, he became Chairman of the Environment Agency, and left in 2008.

Recognition

He received a knighthood in 1997 for services to local government and the environment. Sir John is also a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and an honorary fellow of the

Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters are located in the UK, whi ...

Personal life

He married Susan Crowther in 1971. They have one son and three daughters.

External links

The Environment Centre

Energy Saving Trust

News items

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harman, John 1950 births Living people Labour Party (UK) councillors Politicians from Castleford Alumni of the University of Huddersfield Alumni of the Victoria University of Manchester Schoolteachers from Yorkshire People educated at St George's College, Weybridge Councillors in Kirklees Deputy Lieutenants of West Yorkshire Knights Bachelor Alumni of the University of Manchester