Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles

Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles read Classics at Hertford College.

He entered the Foreign Office in 1977, where he enjoyed a thirty-year career, holding a string of high-profile diplomat stations both overseas and in the UK. One of the most respected authorities on foreign affairs in the country, his overseas postings include Beirut, Alexandria and Cairo, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Washington, Paris, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

He was Principal Private Secretary to Robin Cook, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1999–2001), then the UK’s Ambassador in Israel (2001–2003), Saudi Arabia (2003–2006), and Afghanistan (2007–2009).

Sherard then took up a new role as Special Representative of the UK Foreign Secretary to Afghanistan and Pakistan, before leaving government service in 2010. After writing his two books (see below), he spent two years as international adviser at BAE Systems, before starting in 2013 as Group Head of Public Affairs for HSBC, which he left in 2025. He chaired various Business Councils, including those covering UK commercial relations with China, Saudi Arabia and Oman.

Since 1 December 2025, Sherard has been based in Beijing as Vice President and Corporate Secretary of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, on the nomination of the British Government.

His first book – Cables from Kabul: The Inside Story of the West’s Afghanistan Campaign – chronicling his diplomatic tenure in Afghanistan and Pakistan, was published to great acclaim. His second book Ever the Diplomat: Confessions of a Foreign Office Mandarin was published in 2012.