Sir James Brian Unwin (born 21 September 1935) is a former British civil servant and an author. He was chairman of the board of HM Customs and Excise and president of the European Investment Bank. He is also an author of historical non-fiction.

Education and career

James Brian Unwin studied at

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

and

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. He joined the British Civil Service in 1960, initially working for the Commonwealth Relations Office. From 1968 he was at HM Treasury, seconded from 1981 to 1987 to the

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for supporting the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister and Cabinet ...

. There he eventually held the post of Deputy Secretary. He was chairman of the board of HM Customs and Excise (1987–1993) and became president of the European Investment Bank in 1993, a position which he held until his retirement in 1999. He has served as president of the European Centre for Nature Conservation and as a member of the board of directors of

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is a British opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in E ...

Authorship

Unwin has published two works of historical non-fiction, both dealing with the Napoleonic era: ''Terrible Exile: The Last Days of Napoleon on St Helena'' (2010), which was shortlisted for the Fondation Napoléon History Prize, and ''A Tale in Two Cities: Fanny Burney and Adèle, Comtesse de Boigne'' (2014). In 2016, Unwin published a memoir of his time in the civil service titled '''With respect, minister'''.

Honours

On 13 June 1986, Unwin was appointed

Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

(CB). On 5 June 1990, he was promoted to Knight Commander of the same Order (KCB) with the 1990 Birthday Honours.

References

External links

Brian Unwin speaking during the launch of the book 'The EU Fiscal Crisis: Forcing Eurozone Political Union in 2011?' by Graham Bishop
{{DEFAULTSORT:Unwin, Brian Living people British civil servants British non-fiction writers Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath 1935 births British male writers Presidents of the European Investment Bank British officials of the European Union British male non-fiction writers Civil servants in the Commonwealth Relations Office