The Madras College Archive

     


Former Pupil Biographies

Andrew John Hamish Cowell CMG (1965 - current)


Hamish was born 31 January 1965.  His education was at Madras College and Wadham College, Oxford.

His official title is:       HE (His Excellency) Mr Hamish Cowell.

He joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1987, and has spent much of his career on Middle East and North African issues, including as Deputy Head of Mission in Tehran from 1992 to 1994 and Head of the Political and Economic Section in Cairo from 1996 to 1999.

He also worked closely on North Africa and Middle East issues when posted to the UK Representation to the EU in Brussels from 2001 to 2004, and the British Embassy in Paris from 2004 to 2009.

Other postings include Sri Lanka, an attachment to the UK Mission to the UN in New York, and a secondment to the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Among his positions in London, he has served as the Foreign Secretary’s Speechwriter (1999-2000), in the Prime Minister’s Press Office (2000) and as Private Secretary to Minister of State Jeremy Browne MP (2010 -11).

After heading the Libya Crisis Unit from August 2011, his last position in London was Head of the FCO’s North Africa Department. In 2013 he was appointed UK Ambassador to Tunisia.

In the New Year Honours lists for 2017 he was awarded the CMG, Companion of the order of St Michael and St George for services to UK/Tunisia relations.

He will take up the post of Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman during September 2017.


Hamish is married to Shadi. They have three daughters.

British Ambassador to Tunisia
The Ambassador represents Her Majesty The Queen and the UK government in the country to which they are appointed. They are responsible for the direction and work of the Embassy and its Consulates, including political work, trade and investment, press and cultural relations, and visa and consular services.