Oliver Robbins

Oliver Robbins
CB
Prime Minister's Europe Adviser
Assumed office
18 September 2017
Prime Minister Theresa May
Preceded by Oliver Letwin (2016)
In office
24 June 2016 – 11 July 2016
Europe and Global Issues
Serving with Oliver Letwin
Prime Minister David Cameron
Preceded by Tom Scholar
Succeeded by Oliver Letwin
Permanent Secretary for the
Department for Exiting the European Union
In office
July 2016 – 18 September 2017
Prime Minister Theresa May
Sec. of State David Davis
Preceded by Office established
Succeeded by Philip Rycroft
Second Permanent Secretary
for the Home Office
In office
September 2015 – June 2016
Prime Minister David Cameron
Home Secretary Theresa May
Succeeded by Patsy Wilkinson
Director-General of the Civil Service
In office
January 2014 – September 2015
Prime Minister David Cameron
Preceded by Katherine Kerswell
Succeeded by Simon Claydon
Principal Private Secretary to the
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
In office
27 June 2006 – 11 September 2007
Prime Minister Tony Blair
Gordon Brown
Preceded by Ivan Rogers
Succeeded by Tom Scholar
Personal details
Born (1975-04-20) 20 April 1975
Lambeth, London, England
Spouse(s)
Sherry Birkbeck (m. 2005)
Children 3
Education Colfe's School
Alma mater Hertford College, Oxford
Occupation Civil servant

Oliver Robbins CB (born 20 April 1975) is a British public policy analyst and civil servant who served as Permanent Secretary at the Department for Exiting the European Union from July 2016 to September 2017,[1][2] and has served as The Prime Minister's Europe Advisor for 10 Downing Street since September 2017, and previously from June 2016 to July 2016.[3]

Early life and education

Robbins was born on 20 April 1975 in Lambeth to Derek and Diana Robbins.[1][4] His mother was a civil servant, who later left her job to raise her children.[5] He was educated at Colfe's School, an independent school in Lee, London.[6] 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.[6] At Oxford, Robbins was president of the Oxford Reform Club, a group promoting a federal European Union.[7] He was nicknamed "Sir Humphrey" after the Yes Minister permanent secretary character Sir Humphrey Appleby.[7]

Career

Robbins joined HM Treasury in 1996 on graduation, serving as Head of Corporate and Private Finance from 2003 to 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 reorganised the UK's national security apparatus, and Robbins' post was reformulated as the Deputy National Security Advisor responsible for Intelligence, Security and Resilience. In this role, Robbins negotiated with The Guardian on how to curtail its reporting of material leaked by Edward Snowden relating to the operations of the CIA and GCHQ.[8] The Guardian described Robbins as "steely but punctiliously polite".[8]

In January 2014, Robbins was appointed Director-General, Civil Service at the Cabinet Office.[9] In September 2015, Robbins moved to the Home Office as Second Permanent Secretary alongside Mark Sedwill.[10][11] He had responsibility for immigration and free movement, as well as the borders, immigration and citizenship system.[12] During this role, he was ordered to leave a meeting of the Home Affairs Select Committee after he was deemed to have given "unsatisfactory" answers about the budget for Border Force and to instead provide answers outside the hearing later the same day, which he did not do.[13][12]

In July 2016, Robbins was appointed the head of the European and Global Issues Secretariat, advising the Prime Minister on the EU and to oversee Britain's exit from the European Union.[14] 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.[15] In September 2017, Robbins moved from the Brexit department to become Prime Minister Theresa May's personal Brexit advisor.[3] His closeness to May led to descriptions of him as her consigliere, though he has been praised by allies of the four Prime Ministers he served.[8][16]

Personal life

Robbins is married and has three children.[8] He has been described as "one of the tallest men in the British establishment".[17]

Honours

In the 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours, Robbins was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) for public service.[18]

References

  1. 1 2 3 '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
  2. ↑ "Permanent Secretary appointed to lead the new EU unit in Cabinet Office". GOV.UK. 29 June 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Brexit official Robbins moves to No 10". BBC News. 18 September 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  4. ↑ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  5. ↑ Dudman, Jane (2015-09-21). Will the UK civil service ever reflect the diverse nation it serves?. The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  6. 1 2 "Oliver Robbins". LinkedIn. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
  7. 1 2 Shipman, Gabriel Pogrund and Tim (2018-02-11). "Oliver Robbins, May's Brexit chief, was 'student Sir Humphrey' bent on federal Europe". The Sunday Times. ISSN 0956-1382. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Perkins, Anne (2018-07-27). "Olly Robbins: steely operator fighting on the Brexit frontline". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
  9. ↑ "Robbins replaces Kerswell as head of civil service reform | Civil Service World". www.civilserviceworld.com. Retrieved 2016-10-09.
  10. ↑ "Duncan Lewis: Home Office appoints Second Permanent Secretary to oversee borders and immigration". www.duncanlewis.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-10-09.
  11. ↑ "UK's DG for civil service reform moves to Home Office". Global Government Forum. 2015-09-16. Retrieved 2016-10-09.
  12. 1 2 Syal, Rajeev (2016-04-13). "Civil servant thrown out of Commons committee is ordered to return". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
  13. ↑ "Vaz throws civil servant out of committee". BBC News. 2016-04-12. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
  14. ↑ "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.
  15. ↑ Elgot, Jessica (2016-06-29). "Immigration official takes charge of UK Brexit unit". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-10-09.
  16. ↑ Watt, Nicholas (2018). "Who is Olly Robbins and why is he so important?". BBC News. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
  17. ↑ Watt, Nicholas (2018). "Who is Olly Robbins and why is he so important?". BBC News. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
  18. ↑ "No. 61256". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 June 2015. p. B3.

Positions held

Government offices
Preceded by
Ivan Rogers		 Principal Private Secretary
to the Prime Minister
2006–2007		 Succeeded by
Tom Scholar
Preceded by
Robert Hannigan		 Director of Intelligence Security and Resilience
for the Cabinet Office
2007–2010		 Office abolished
New title Deputy National Security Advisor
for the Cabinet Office
2010–2014		 Succeeded by
Paddy McGuinness
Preceded by
Katherine Kerswell		 Director-General of the Civil Service
2014–2015		 Succeeded by
Simon Claydon
New title Deputy Permanent Secretary
for the Home Office
2015–2016		 Succeeded by
Patsy Wilkinson
Preceded by
Tom Scholar
as Prime Minister's Adviser
for Europe and Global Issues		 Permanent Secretary for the
Department for Exiting the European Union
2016–2017		 Succeeded by
Philip Rycroft


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