Alumnus becomes Foreign Office’s most Senior Civil Servant

9 January 2025

It has been announced that Hertford alumnus Oliver Robbins (PPE, 1993) will succeed Sir Philip Barton as the Permanent Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs, based in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

After finishing his degree, Robbins joined the civil service as a graduate entrant. He remained in the Treasury for 10 years, during which time he held three junior policy positions focused on the EU, including a brief secondment to the Cabinet Secretariat. From 1999 to 2002, he was part of a small team that coordinated public spending policy and UK spending reviews. In 2003, he was promoted to the senior civil service to lead the Corporate and Private Finance team, overseeing financial and economic policy interests in state-owned industries and project finance. In 2006 he moved to No 10 as Principal Private Secretary under Tony Blair and then Gordon Brown, and four years later was appointed Deputy National Security Advisor.

In 2014, Robbins was appointed Head of Civil Service Reform, then moved to the Home Office to become the second most senior civil servant in the department, overseeing borders and immigration. In July 2016, he became Head of the European and Global Issues Secretariat, advising Theresa May on the EU and Britain’s exit from the European Union. He took a break from the civil service in 2019, working as a consultant at Goldman Sachs and most recently as a partner at consultancy firm Hakluyt.

Closer to home, Olly was awarded the inaugural Heywood Fellowship in 2019, in partnership with the Blavatnik School of Government. During this time, he researched the role of the Cabinet Secretary in the modern British system.

We wish Olly all the very best in his new role!