Peter Michael Alexander Wilson (born 31 March 1968) is a

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

whose most recent post was to serve as Director General Europe in the FCDO. He has also served as

British Ambassador to Brazil The Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Brazil is the United Kingdom's foremost diplomatic representative in Brazil and the head of the UK's diplomatic mission in Brazil. The official title is ''His Britannic Majesty's Ambassador to the Federa ...

British Ambassador to the Netherlands The British Ambassador to the Netherlands is the United Kingdom's foremost diplomatic representative in the Netherlands, and head of the UK's diplomatic mission in the Netherlands. The official title is ''His Britannic Majesty's Ambassador to ...

, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the

Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW; French: ''Organisation pour l'interdiction des armes chimiques'', OIAC) is an intergovernmental organisation and the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), ...

, and

Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is a senior official in the United Kingdom Civil Service who acts as principal private secretary to the prime minister of the United Kingdom. The holder of this office i ...

Early life

Wilson is a son of

David Wilson, Baron Wilson of Tillyorn David Clive Wilson, Baron Wilson of Tillyorn (, born 14 February 1935) is a retired British administrator, diplomat and Sinologist. He was the penultimate Commander-in-Chief and 27th Governor of Hong Kong (from 1987 to 1992). He served as Lor ...

. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...

. He also has a

MPA MPA or mPa may refer to: Academia Academic degrees * Master of Performing Arts * Master of Professional Accountancy * Master of Public Administration * Master of Public Affairs Schools * Mesa Preparatory Academy * Morgan Park Academy * M ...

degree from the

Kennedy School of Government The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

at Harvard University.

Career

Wilson joined the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 ...

(FCO) in 1992 and was posted to

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 ...

where he studied Mandarin at the

University of International Business and Economics The University of International Business and Economics (UIBE; ) is a public university located in Chaoyang, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education. and co-funded by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Commerc ...

. He served at the British embassy in Beijing 1995–98. In early 1999 he was appointed to the cabinet of Sir Leon Brittan, who was a

Vice-President of the European Commission A Vice-President of the European Commission is a member of the European Commission who leads the commission's work in particular focus areas in which multiple European Commissioners participate. Currently, the European Commission has a total of ...

. After Brittan resigned with the rest of the

Santer Commission The Santer Commission was the European Commission in office between 23 January 1995 and 15 March 1999. The administration was led by Jacques Santer (former Prime Minister of Luxembourg). The body had 20 members and oversaw the introduction of ...

in March 1999, Wilson continued as First Secretary at the UK representation to the EU. He was head of the Strategic Policy Team at the FCO 2003–04; Political Counsellor at Islamabad 2005–06 and at Beijing 2007–10; and Director, Asia Pacific, at the FCO 2010–13. He was deputy

permanent representative to the United Nations A permanent representative to the United Nations (sometimes called a "UN ambassador")"History of Ambassadors", United States Mission to the United Nations, March 2011, webpagUSUN-a. is the head of a country's diplomatic mission to the United Natio ...

(with the rank of ambassador) 2013–17. In January 2017, the FCO announced Wilson's appointment as Ambassador to the Netherlands. He took up the post when

King Willem-Alexander Willem-Alexander (; Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand; born 27 April 1967) is King of the Netherlands since 30 April 2013. Willem-Alexander was born in Utrecht during the reign of his maternal grandmother, Queen Juliana, as the eldest ch ...

received his

credentials A credential is a piece of any document that details a qualification, competence, or authority issued to an individual by a third party with a relevant or '' de facto'' authority or assumed competence to do so. Examples of credentials include ac ...

on 23 August 2017. On 30 August that same year he presented his credentials to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. In January 2021 he was appointed Ambassador to Brazil. In March 2022, Wilson was announced as

, filling the vacancy that had been left by Martin Reynolds' resignation earlier that year. However, Wilson vacated the role after six months when

Liz Truss Mary Elizabeth Truss (born 26 July 1975) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from September to October 2022. On her fiftieth da ...

became Prime Minister on 6 September 2022 and appointed Nick Catsaras as her new Principal Private Secretary. From March 2023 to August 2024 Wilson served as Director General Europe in the FCDO. In May 2025, Wilson was announced as the next Ambassador to the People's Republic of China commencing in August 2025.

Personal life

Wilson is married and has three children.

Honours

Wilson was appointed CMG in the

2013 Birthday Honours The 2013 Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of t ...

"for services to strengthening British foreign policy in Asia".

References

External links

Peter Wilson CMG at www.gov.uk
Retrieved 22 October 2024 {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Peter 1968 births Living people People educated at Eton College Alumni of Merton College, Oxford Members of HM Diplomatic Service Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Netherlands Permanent representatives of the United Kingdom to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Harvard Kennedy School alumni Sons of life peers 20th-century British diplomats Principal private secretaries to the prime minister