Richard Rhys O'Brien (born 19 November 1950,

Banbury, Oxfordshire Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshire ...

) is a British economist,

futurist Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities abou ...

, author and co-founder of Outsights, a

scenario planning Scenario planning, scenario thinking, scenario analysis, scenario prediction and the scenario method all describe a strategic planning method that some organizations use to make flexible long-term plans. It is in large part an adaptation and gener ...

consultancy. Since 2009 he has also been a singer songwriter. and biographer.

Early life

After graduating from

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 the ...

(MA Hons. Philosophy, Politics and Economics) and

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1582 ...

(Diploma in

African Studies African studies is the study of Africa, especially the continent's cultures and societies (as opposed to its geology, geography, zoology, etc.). The field includes the study of Africa's history (pre-colonial, colonial, post-colonial), demography ...

), O'Brien worked at Rothschild Intercontinental Bank and

American Express American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation specialized in payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The company was found ...

Bank for 21 years. At American Express, he was

Chief Economist Chief economist is a single-position job class having primary responsibility for the development, coordination, and production of economic and financial analysis. It is distinguished from the other economist positions by the broader scope of respons ...

and Executive Director and Editor of ''The Amex Bank Review'' where he did

country risk Country risk refers to the risk of investing or lending in a country, arising from possible changes in the business environment that may adversely affect operating profits or the value of assets in the country. For example, financial factors such ...

analysis. O'Brien created the economics essay competition, ''The Amex Bank Review Awards'', in memory of EU architect

Robert Marjolin Robert Marjolin (27 July 1911 – 15 April 1986) was a French economist and politician involved in the formation of the European Economic Community. Early life and education Robert Majolin was born in Paris, the son of an upholsterer. He lef ...

. He worked with the

Group of Thirty The Group of Thirty, often abbreviated to G30, is an international body of financiers and academics which aims to deepen understanding of economic and financial issues and to examine consequences of decisions made in the public and private sect ...

(G30) on regulation and the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

. O'Brien worked on several books on the global economy, including ''"Global Financial Integration: the End of Geography"''.

Later career in future planning

In 1998 O'Brien set up Outsights, a scenario planning consultancy, with Tim Bolderson who had worked with him at Global Business Network, where they completed large scale scenario planning projects such as The Future of Japan. O'Brien has led and developed scenarios for business and the UK Government in a wide range of sectors, including "The Future of the International Environment 2010-2020", and directing the Sigma Scan, an online database of future trends to 2050.

Music career

Since 2009 he has published six albums of songs, under his full name Richard Rhys O'Brien.

Biographer career

In 2019 he published an online study of the network of Lady Margaret Rhondda, the suffragette, businesswoman and publisher. In October 2022 Ylolfa published his biographical study of the political and other campaigns of Margaret Lloyd George, the wife of Prime Minister David Lloyd George.

Publications and songs

* ''"I know a little place"'', music album 2012 * ''"Anguneau sunset"'', music album 2014 * '' "Sense in our brains" '' music album 2015 * '' "Don't Believe the Crystal Ball" '' music album 2018 * '' "The Ballad of Highbury Barn" '' music album 2019 * '' "Wherever the Moon Is, Songs of Migration" '' music album 2019 * '' "The Campaigns of Margaret Lloyd George. The Wife of the Prime Minister 1916-1922
YLolfa
* '' Drivers of change for the future of the UN'' in ''Post 2015-UN Development: Making change happen?? '', Browne, Stephen and Weiss, Thomas G. (2014)

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...

* ''The Annual Register 300th Edition: a personal future'', O'Brien,

ProQuest ProQuest LLC is an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based global information-content and technology company, founded in 1938 as University Microfilms by Eugene B. Power. ProQuest is known for its applications and information services for libraries, provid ...

, the 2009 Annual Register: World Events, 9-15, 2009. * ''The Geography of Finance: After the Storm'', O'Brien, Keith,

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Volume 2, Issue 2, July 2009. ISSN 1752-1386 * ''The Future of the Global Economy'', O'Brien, Keith, Prest, Outsights Ltd, 2009 * ''Corporate Governance, Financial Markets and Global Convergence'', Balling, Hennessy, O'Brien, Springer (1997). * ''Risk Management in Volatile Financial Markets'', Bruni, Fair, O'Brien, Allen, Springer (1996). * ''Finance and the International Economy 8. The Amex Bank Review Prize Essays'', O'Brien (ed),

, 1994. * ''Global Financial Integration: The End of Geography'', O'Brien,

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...

Press (1992). * ''Banking Perspectives on the Debt Crisis'',

Oxford Review of Economic Policy ''Oxford Review of Economic Policy'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal of economics. Each issue concentrates on a current theme in economic policy, with a balance between macro- and microeconomics, and comprises an assessment and a num ...

, 2: 25 - 38, 1986 * ''Private Bank Lending to Developing Countries: Past, Present and Future'', O'Brien,

Staff Working Paper No. 482, World Bank, Washington, DC, 1981

Associations

O'Brien serves and has served on a number of governing councils, and has chaired several international competitions: * BBC World Challenge * Shell/Economist Writing Prize *

The Annual Register ''The Annual Register'' (originally subtitled "A View of the History, Politicks and Literature of the Year ...") is a long-established reference work, written and published each year, which records and analyses the year's major events, developmen ...

Royal Institute of International Affairs Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

Society of Business Economists The Society of Professional Economists is a British network of professional economists. Its members are drawn from all areas of the discipline including financial and professional services, business, journalism, government, consultancy, business s ...

Royal Economic Society The Royal Economic Society (RES) is a professional association that promotes the study of economic science in academia, government service, banking, industry, and public affairs. Originally established in 1890 as the British Economic Association, ...

* Research Advisory Board, ''Economic and Social Science Research Council'' * Kingswood School, Bath

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Richard 1950 births Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Oxford British consultants English non-fiction writers Living people People from Banbury English male non-fiction writers