Dame Susan Jane Owen (born 3 June 1955) is a former

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

and former academic. She served as the

Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day ...

for the

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport , type = Department , logo = Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport logo.svg , logo_width = , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = Gove ...

from October 2013 until her retirement in March 2019.

Early life

She was educated at

Lady Eleanor Holles School Lady Eleanor Holles School (often abbreviated to LEH or LEHS) is an independent day school for girls in Hampton, London. It consists of a small junior school and a larger senior school, which operate from different buildings on the same site. It ...

Hampton, London Hampton is a suburban area on the north bank of the River Thames, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England, and historically in the County of Middlesex. which includes Hampton Court Palace. Hampton is served by two railway stations, ...

. She received a degree in economics from

Newnham College, Cambridge Newnham College is a women's Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sid ...

in 1976 and a MSc (Economics) at

Cardiff University , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

in 1978.

Career

Owen was an academic lecturer and researcher at Cardiff University and 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 ...

, where she studied women in the labour market from 1979 until 1988. Owen then joined

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury), occasionally referred to as the Exchequer, or more informally the Treasury, is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for developing and executing the government's public finance policy and ec ...

as an economic adviser in 1989, before working on EU Co-ordination from 1995 to 1998. She was then seconded to the

Number 10 Policy Unit The Number 10 Policy Unit is a body of policymakers based in 10 Downing Street, providing policy advice directly to the British Prime Minister. Originally set up to support Harold Wilson in 1974, it has gone through a series of guises to suit the ...

as the economic advisor on the Work/Family Balance Policy project, followed by a four-year tour from 1999 to 2002 as the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

's Counsellor for economic affairs and head of the economics section at the

British Embassy in Washington, D.C. The British Embassy, Washington D.C. (alternatively in the US, Embassy of the United Kingdom, Washington, D.C.) is the Charles III, British sovereign's diplomatic mission to the United States of America, representing the interests of the United ...

In 2002, Owen returned to the Treasury as Director for

EMU The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the genus ''Dromaius''. The emu' ...

Policy,

Euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

Preparations and Debt Management. She was UK Alternate Director on the EU Economic and Finance Committee. In 2006 she moved to the

Department for International Development , type = Department , logo = DfID.svg , logo_width = 180px , logo_caption = , picture = File:Admiralty Screen (411824276).jpg , picture_width = 180px , picture_caption = Department for International Development (London office) (far right ...

as their Director-General for Corporate Performance, before briefly serving as their acting Permanent Secretary in 2008 between Sir Suma Chakrabarti and Dame Minouche Shafik. She then left for

Department for Work and Pensions , type = Department , seal = , logo = Department for Work and Pensions logo.svg , logo_width = 166px , formed = , preceding1 = , jurisdiction = Government of the United Kingdom , headquarters = Caxton House7th Floor6–12 Tothill Stree ...

as their Director-General for Welfare and Wellbeing (from 2011, for Strategy), where she served from 2009 until 2013. In October 2013, Owen replaced Sir Jonathan Stephens as

for the

Department for Culture, Media and Sport , type = Department , logo = Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport logo.svg , logo_width = , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = Gove ...

(DCMS). Owen took over the department following the successful

2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

and

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

held in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, and her role as head of the DCMS department also includes ensuring a long-term legacy of those Games. As of 2015, Owen was paid a salary of between £155,000 and £159,999 by DCLG, making her one of the 328 most highly paid people in the British public sector at that time. In July 2017 the department was renamed to be the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, to reflect the increasing importance of that part of the department's work. As Permanent Secretary, Owen oversaw civil servants in the fields of the arts, sport, tourism, creative industries and media. She worked with 45 Arms Length Bodies, overseeing appointments to their boards. From 2013–15 her role also included promoting equality and diversity in society, including some matters related to the legalisation of same-sex marriage. Owen was also an ''ex officio'' member of the Arts, Media, Sport and Economy committee of the Honours Committee, which nominates people for the Queen's

Birthday A birthday is the anniversary of the birth of a person, or figuratively of an institution. Birthdays of people are celebrated in numerous cultures, often with birthday gifts, birthday cards, a birthday party, or a rite of passage. Many relig ...

and

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

. In July 2014, Owen became the LGB&T (straight ally) Champion for

Her Majesty's Civil Service His Majesty's Home Civil Service, also known as His Majesty's Civil Service, the Home Civil Service, or colloquially as the Civil Service is the permanent bureaucracy or secretariat of Crown employees that supports His Majesty's Government, whic ...

, which is a voluntary leadership role designed to serve as a figurehead for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender government employees. One of her early acts was overseeing the Talent Action Plan, launched in September 2014, which aims to remove barriers that have limited LGB&T employees. Owen said the goal of the plan was to "ensure that you can succeed in the Civil Service whoever you are." Owen has also discussed the need for more gender equality in government, and that she was a strong proponent of policies and programmes to increase the number of women in power in the senior civil service. In June 2015 Owen also became the Civil Service Diversity Champion, replacing Simon Fraser. In March 2019, it was announced that Dame Sue would be succeeded as permanent secretary by

Sarah Healey Sarah Elizabeth Healey (''née'' Fitzpatrick; born 1975) is a British civil servant, appointed as Permanent Secretary for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in March 2019. Life She read Modern History and English at Magda ...

. She was appointed as non-executive chair of the advisory board of the

UK Debt Management Office The UK Debt Management Office (DMO) is the executive agency responsible for debt and cash management for the UK Government, lending to local authorities and managing certain public sector funds. Purpose The DMO is responsible for day-to-day man ...

in May 2022.

Honours and personal life

Owen married

Martin Albrow Martin Albrow (born 1937) is a British sociologist, noted for his works on globalization, the theory of the global age and global civil society. He was appointed in 1963 as the first full-time sociologist at Reading University, and subsequently wor ...

in 1987. Owen was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as o ...

(CB) in the Queen's Birthday Honours for 2010. She was promoted to

Dame Commander Commander ( it, Commendatore; french: Commandeur; german: Komtur; es, Comendador; pt, Comendador), or Knight Commander, is a title of honor prevalent in chivalric orders and fraternal orders. The title of Commander occurred in the medieval mil ...

of the Order of the Bath (DCB) in the

2018 Queen's Birthday Honours The 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as p ...

Offices held

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Owen, Sue 1955 births Living people People from Richmond, London English economists British women economists Civil servants in HM Treasury Dames Commander of the Order of the Bath Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for Culture, Media and Sport Civil servants from London Alumni of Cardiff University Academics of the London School of Economics Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge Place of birth missing (living people)