Olly Robbins

Early career

Robbins joined HM Treasury in 1996 after graduation, serving as head of corporate and private finance from 2003 to 2006, and then briefly as head of defence, diplomacy and intelligence finance.^[4]

He 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 its director before leaving Number 10 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 national security apparatus, and Robbins's 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.^[12] The Guardian described Robbins as "steely but punctiliously polite".^[12]

In January 2014, Robbins was appointed director-general (civil service) at the Cabinet Office.^[13] In September 2015, Robbins moved to the Home Office as Second Permanent Secretary alongside Sir Mark Sedwill.^[14][15] He had responsibility for immigration and free movement, as well as the borders, immigration and citizenship system.^[16] During this role, Robbins 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.^[17][16]

European Union adviser

In July 2016, Robbins was appointed the head of the European and Global Issues Secretariat, advising the Prime Minister on the European Union and to oversee Britain's exit from the EU.^[18] Shortly thereafter, the secretariat was moved out of the Cabinet Office becoming a Ministry of State, the Department for Exiting the European Union, of which he became permanent secretary.^[19][20] In September 2017, Robbins moved from the Brexit Department to become Prime Minister Theresa May's personal Brexit advisor.^[21][22] His closeness to May led to him being described as her consigliere, though he was praised by allies of the four Prime Ministers he served.^[12][23]

Robbins's role in negotiating a deal for the UK withdrawal from the European Union led to some Conservative MPs blaming him for an anti-Brexit "establishment plot", criticising him as "secretive" and likening him with Grigori Rasputin.^[24][25] Acting Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill sent a letter to The Times defending Robbins, asserting that civil servants implement the decisions of elected governments.^[26] Sedwill pointed to the example of HMRC permanent secretary Sir Jon Thompson receiving death threats after giving evidence before MPs about the costs of a potential post-Brexit customs plan.^[27] Responding to Sedwill's letter, Andrew Adonis said that civil servants should "start getting used to criticism", as they had the option to work on other policies.^[28] A group of former military and intelligence officials associated with pro-Brexit pressure group Veterans for Britain, including Sir Richard Dearlove, the former head of MI6, said Robbins had "serious questions of improper conduct to answer" over defence and security co-operation between the UK and the EU after Brexit.^[28] Former Department for Work and Pensions permanent secretary Sir Leigh Lewis backed up Sedwill's letter, noting the "occupational hazard for senior civil servants to be held responsible for the political decisions of ministers", of which he considered the attacks on Robbins to be a blatant example in a particularly toxic environment.^[29]

Later career

In June 2019 it was reported that Robbins intended to resign when Theresa May left office.^[30] He was elected to the Heywood fellowship at the Blavatnik School of Government in September 2019, after which he joined Goldman Sachs as a managing director of the bank's investment banking division; joining former European Commission president José Manuel Barroso, who was the non-executive chairman of Goldman Sachs International at the time.^[31][32]

Robbins worked for strategic advisory firm Hakluyt & Company in about 2024.^[33]

He applied to be cabinet secretary,^[34] but Sir Chris Wormald was appointed instead in December 2024. Robbins was one of the final four candidates with Sir Chris Wormald, Dame Antonia Romeo and Tamara Finkelstein.^[35]

Permanent Under-Secretary, FCDO

Robbins was appointed Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs on 8 January 2025 for a five-year term,^[36] succeeding Sir Philip Barton.

Under Robbins, the FCDO underwent staff cuts. All directors general and director-level staff were required to reapply for their jobs with reductions to staff expected in 2026.^[37] On 16 April 2026, Robbins was sacked over the controversy surrounding Peter Mandelson's appointment as British ambassador to the United States.^[38]