Oliver Robbins

Oliver Robbins CB
Permanent Secretary for leaving the EU
Incumbent
Assumed office July 2016
Prime Minister	Theresa May
Minister	David Davis
Prime Minister's Adviser, European and Global Issues
In office June 2016 – July 2016
Prime Minister	David Cameron
Preceded by	Tom Scholar
Second Permanent Secretary, Home Office
In office 2015 – June 2016
Prime Minister	David Cameron
Minister	Theresa May
Succeeded by	Patsy Wilkinson
Director-General, Civil Service
In office January 2014 – September 2015
Prime Minister	David Cameron
Preceded by	Katherine Kerswell
Succeeded by	Simon Claydon
Deputy National Security Advisor for Intelligence, Security and Resilience
In office 2010 – January 2014
Prime Minister	David Cameron
Succeeded by	Paddy McGuinness
Director of Intelligence, Security and Resilience, Cabinet Office
In office 2010–2007
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	Robert Hannigan
Director of the Prime Minister's Office
In office 2007–2007
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
In office 2006–2007
Prime Minister	Tony Blair (until June 2007) Gordon Brown (from June 2007)
Preceded by	Ivan Rogers
Succeeded by	Tom Scholar
Personal details
Born	20 April 1975
Nationality	British
Alma mater	Hertford College, Oxford
Occupation	Civil servant

Oliver Robbins, CB (born 20 April 1975) is a senior British civil servant who served in several roles and is now Permanent Secretary of the Department for Exiting the European Union.^[1][2]

Early life and education

Robbins was born 20 April 1975.^[1] He was educated at Colfe's School, an independent school in Lee, London.^[3] He studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) at Hertford College, Oxford.^[1] He graduated from the University of Oxford with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1996.^[3]

Career

Robbins joined HM Treasury in 1996 on graduation, serving as Head of Corporate and Private Finance from 2003-2006, and then briefly as Head of Defence, Diplomacy and Intelligence finance.

Robbins was appointed as Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street in 2006, replacing Ivan Rogers for the last part of Tony Blair's administration and the start of Gordon Brown's. When Brown re-set the Prime Minister's Office organisation to be more like its pre-1997 form, Robbins briefly served as Director of the Office before leaving Number 10 per se in 2007 to become the Director of Intelligence and Security — later, Director of Intelligence, Security and Resilience — in the Cabinet Office. In 2010, David Cameron's incoming administration re-organised the UK's national security apparatus, and Robbins post was re-formulated as the Deputy National Security Advisor responsible for Intelligence, Security and Resilience.

In January 2014, Robbins was appointed Director-General, Civil Service at the Cabinet Office.^[4] In September 2015, Robbins moved to the Home Office as their Second Permanent Secretary under Mark Sedwill.^[5][6]

In July 2016, Robbins was appointed the head of the European and Global Issues Secretariat, advising the Prime Minister on the EU and so oversee Britain's exit from the European Union.^[7] Shortly thereafter, the secretariat was moved out of the Cabinet Office to become a full department, the Department for Exiting the European Union, of which he became the permanent secretary.^[8]

Honours

In the 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours, Robbins was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) "for public service".^[9]

References

1. 'ROBBINS, Oliver', Who's Who 2012, A & C Black, 2012; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2011 ; online edn, Nov 2011 accessed 18 April 2012
3. "Oliver Robbins". LinkedIn. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
4. "Robbins replaces Kerswell as head of civil service reform | Civil Service World". www.civilserviceworld.com. Retrieved 2016-10-09.
5. "Duncan Lewis: Home Office appoints Second Permanent Secretary to oversee borders and immigration". www.duncanlewis.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-10-09.
6. "UK's DG for civil service reform moves to Home Office". Global Government Forum. 2015-09-16. Retrieved 2016-10-09.
7. "Permanent Secretary appointed to lead the new EU unit in Cabinet Office". gov.uk. Cabinet Office and Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street. 29 June 2016. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
8. Elgot, Jessica (2016-06-29). "Immigration official takes charge of UK Brexit unit". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-10-09.
9. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 61256. p. B3. 13 June 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2016.

Positions held