Biography

James David Campbell Walker (born 25 August 1968) is a British former Olympic

oarsman Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically att ...

and subsequently clean energy developer from

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

. He was active in international rowing between 1985 and 2000.

Rowing career

Walker won a bronze medal in the Men's Eight event at the

1989 World Rowing Championships The 1989 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 2 to 10 September 1989 at Lake Bled near Bled in SR Slovenia, Yugoslavia. Medal summary Men's events Women's events Medal table Footnotes Ref ...

and competed in the same boat class at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona and the

1996 Olympic Games The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

in Atlanta. He competed for Great Britain at two Junior World Championships (1985 and 1986), the 1987 Under-23 World Championships, the 1987 World Student Games, six

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

from 1989 to 1995, and two

Goodwill Games The Goodwill Games were an international sports competition created by Ted Turner in reaction to the political troubles surrounding the Olympic Games of the 1980s. In 1979, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan caused the United States and other ...

in 1990 and 1994. He was a world junior silver medalist in 1986, competing in a British four with Matt Brittin, Jonny Searle and Mark Pierce. During his rowing career he competed for clubs including King's Chester,

Imperial College Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a cultural district in South Kensington that included museums ...

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

Leander Club Leander Club, founded in 1818, is one of the oldest rowing clubs in the world, and the oldest non-academic club. It is based in Remenham in Berkshire, England and adjoins Henley-on-Thames. Only three other surviving clubs were founded prior ...

and

Molesey Boat Club Molesey Boat Club is a Rowing (sport), rowing club between Molesey Lock and Sunbury Lock on the River Thames in England. The club was founded in 1866 where its boathouse stands with hardstanding next to the Thames Path National Trail, Thames P ...

. He is a four-time winner at

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a Rowing (sport), rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It diffe ...

, including the

Stewards' Challenge Cup The Stewards' Challenge Cup is a rowing event for men's coxless fours at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through ...

in 1989 and 1991, the

Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 19219 April 2021), was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he was the consort of the British monarch from h ...

in 1993 and the Visitors' in 1987. His 1989 winning time of 6.28 made his ULBC/ OUBC crew with Jonny Searle,

Rupert Obholzer Rupert Obholzer (born 27 March 1970 in Cape Town) is a British rower. He was educated at Hampton School along with Johnny and Greg Searle and then St Catherine's College, Oxford, where he stroked the dark blue boat to victory in the 199 ...

and Jonny Hulls the first four to finish under six and a half minutes, breaking the previous Stewards' record by 12 seconds. As part of the debate following the Atlanta Olympics about the then chronic lack of funding for elite sport in Britain, Walker was identified by

the Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

newspaper as one of five examples of unfunded

Team GB Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their British Olympic team. The brand was developed after the nation's poor performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and is now a trademark of the BOA. ...

athletes deserving of National Lottery support for the 1996-2000 Olympic cycle, alongside sailor

Sir Ben Ainslie Sir Charles Benedict Ainslie (born 5 February 1977) is a British competitive sailor. Ainslie is the most successful sailor in Olympic history. He won medals at five consecutive Olympics from 1996 onwards, including gold at four consecutive Gam ...

, swimmer

Paul Palmer Paul Palmer may refer to: * Paul Palmer (American football) (born 1964), American football player * Paul Palmer (cricketer) (born 1992), Jamaican cricketer * Paul Palmer (minister) (died 1747), American religious leader * Paul Palmer (physicist) (1 ...

, sprinter Angie Thorp and canoeist Lynn Simpson. He was a member of the British

sculling Sculling is the use of oars to propel a boat by moving them through the water on both sides of the craft, or moving one oar over the stern. A long, narrow boat with sliding seats, rigged with two oars per rower may be referred to as a scull, its ...

squad in 1998, was a reserve for the 1999 World Championships

sweep Sweep or swept may refer to: Cleaning * Sweep, the action of using a brush to clean * Chimney sweep, a worker who clears ash and soot from chimneys * Street sweeper, a person's occupation, or a machine that cleans streets * Swept quartz, a cle ...

team and also a final trialist for the British team for the

2000 Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

, where he was ultimately unsuccessful in securing selection for a third Games in Sydney.

Post-sport career

After the 1996 Olympics Walker returned to

to study Environmental Technology, working subsequently for six years in consultancy,LinkedIn profil
"Jim Walker"
retrieved July 2024 the first three of which he combined with seeking selection for the Sydney Olympic Games. He retired from rowing in 2000. Together with Dr. Steve Howard and Alison Lucas, Walker co-founded the international organization

The Climate Group Climate Group is a nonprofit organisation with a mission to drive climate action, fast, and achieve a world of net zero carbon emissions by 2050, with greater prosperity for all. The organisation builds influential networks of business and gove ...

in 2004, serving for 10 years as COO in London,

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

and the United States. In 2014 he worked as founding CEO to help establish the We Mean Business coalition, a campaign that worked with major companies on the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Paris Agreement The Paris Agreement (also called the Paris Accords or Paris Climate Accords) is an international treaty on climate change that was signed in 2016. The treaty covers climate change mitigation, adaptation, and finance. The Paris Agreement was ...

on climate. From 2007 to 2017 he was a final jury member for the annual Dutch Postcode Lottery Green Challenge, one of the world’s biggest sustainability competitions by prize value. Until 2023 he led partnerships and fundraising efforts for the

-affiliated initiative SEforALL, reporting to two successive Special Representatives of the

UN Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...

.World Rowing web sit
"Where are they now: Jim Walker"
December 2022

Rowing results

References

External links

* 1968 births Living people British male rowers Olympic rowers for Great Britain Rowers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Chester World Rowing Championships medalists for Great Britain Members of Leander Club {{UK-rowing-bio-stub