Sir Robert Mark Wainwright KCMG (born 17 September 1967) is a British civil servant. He was the director of Europol from 16 April 2009 until 1 May 2018.

Education

He was brought up in

Pontyberem Pontyberem () is a village and community situated in the Gwendraeth Valley halfway between Carmarthen and Llanelli in Carmarthenshire, Wales. As of the 2001 Census, the population was recorded as 2,829, reducing to 2,768 at the 2011 Census. The ...

and attended Gwendraeth Grammar School. Wainwright was educated at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

graduating with a BSc in 1989.

Career

He then worked for the United Kingdom's Security Service (MI5) as an intelligence analyst. From 2000 to 2003, Wainwright was the UK Management Board member at Europol and a UK Liaison Officer. At the same time, he was Head of the British Europol National Unit in London. In 2003 he was appointed Director of International Affairs of the UK's

National Criminal Intelligence Service The National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) was a United Kingdom policing agency. Following the Police and Criminal Justice Act 2001, NCIS returned to direct funding by the Home Office in 2002 and was a non-departmental public body. On 1 Ap ...

(NCIS), where he was responsible for international operations and for the development and implementation of a British strategy against illegal immigration. From 2006 Wainwright held the post of head of the international department of the UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). In April 2009, Wainwright was appointed Director of Europol, the European Police Office, being the first Director without a police background or belonging to a national police force. He leads a staff of over 800 personnel who support law enforcement authorities in the 27 EU Member States to tackle international organised crime. The agency handles over 18 000 cross–border cases per year in areas such as drugs, human trafficking, cybercrime, intellectual property crime, cigarette smuggling, Euro counterfeiting, money laundering and asset tracing, outlaw motorcycle gangs, and terrorism. Wainwright and other EU citizens witnessed the reform of Europol's legal framework as it became a formal EU agency on 1 January 2010. Through this process Europol claimed to have acquired a stronger mandate and new capabilities. On 1 July 2011, Wainwright hosted HM Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands as she officially opened Europol's new headquarters in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

. In March 2012, the Council of Justice and Home Affairs extended Wainwright's term of office as Director of Europol until 2017. It was subsequently extended until 1 May 2018, after which he was succeeded by

Catherine De Bolle Catherine De Bolle (born 17 February 1970) is the executive director of Europol, succeeding Rob Wainwright whose term expired on 1 May 2018. Before that she was the chief commissioner of the Belgian federal police (1 March 2012–1 May 2018) an ...

Personal life

Wainwright is married and has three children. His interests include literature and history. He has said society accepts that intercepting private phone calls is "a reasonable way to run a democracy".

References

External links

Profile of Rob Wainwright from Europol
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wainwright, Rob 1967 births Living people Detectives and criminal investigators Chiefs of police British civil servants People from Carmarthen Alumni of the London School of Economics Europol MI5 personnel Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George