Sir Peter Ingram Walters (11 March 1931 – 11 July 2023) was a British businessman. He was the chief executive and chairman of BP. He was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, England, in the family of a police inspector. In 1949, he left

King Edward's School, Birmingham King Edward's School (KES) is an independent school (UK), independent day school for boys in the British Public school (UK), public school tradition, located in Edgbaston, Birmingham. Founded by Edward VI of England, King Edward VI in 1552, it ...

. He gained a bachelor of commerce degree from the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

in 1952. In 1954 he joined British Petroleum. From 1965 to 1967 Walters was vice president of BP North America Inc, and from 1971 to 1980 regional director for the Western Hemisphere, Australasia and the Far East. He became BP's deputy chairman in 1980. Walters was the chairman of BP from 1981 to 1990. He retired from BP in March 1990. In 1991–1994, he was chairman of

Midland Bank Midland Bank plc was one of the Big Four (banks)#United Kingdom, Big Four banking groups in the United Kingdom for most of the 20th century. It is now part of HSBC. The bank was founded as the Birmingham and Midland Bank in Union Street, Birming ...

. From 1994 to 2000, he was chairman of

SmithKline Beecham GSK plc (an acronym from its former name GlaxoSmithKline plc) is a British multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with headquarters in London. It was established in 2000 by a merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham, w ...

. He was a deputy chairman of

GlaxoSmithKline GSK plc (an acronym from its former name GlaxoSmithKline plc) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutics, pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with headquarters in London. It was established in 2000 by a Mergers an ...

. Walters was deputy chairman of

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

in 1990–1999 and

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc ( zh, t_hk=滙豐; initialism from its founding member The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is a British universal bank and financial services group headquartered in London, England, with historical and business li ...

in 1992–2001. He was president of the General Council of British Shipping, the

Society of Chemical Industry The Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) is a learned society set up in 1881 "to further the application of chemistry and related sciences for the public benefit". Offices The society's headquarters is in Belgrave Square, London. There are semi-in ...

and the Institute for Employment Studies, and has served as a chairman of the governing body of the

London Business School London Business School (LBS) is a business school and a constituent college of the federal University of London. LBS was founded in 1964 and awards post-graduate degrees (Master's degree, Master's degrees in management and finance, Master of B ...

, president of the

Institute of Directors The Institute of Directors (IoD) is a British professional organisation for company directors, senior business leaders and entrepreneurs. It is the UK's longest running organisation for professional leaders, having been founded in 1903 and inco ...

, president of the Police Foundation, president of the

Institute of Business Ethics The Institute of Business Ethics or IBE is a non-profit professional organisation based in London, which works to promote business ethics through consciousness raising and institutional collaborations nationwide and internationally. History The I ...

and a trustee of the

Institute of Economic Affairs The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) is a British right-wing free market think tank, which is registered as a charity. Associated with the New Right, the IEA describes itself as an "educational research institute", and says that it seeks to ...

. Walters was knighted in 1984. He was awarded the Society of Chemical Industry's Centenal Medal, received honorary fellowships from the

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the ...

and the

Institution of Chemical Engineers The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) is a global professional engineering institution with 30,000 members in 114 countries. It was founded in 1922 and awarded a Royal Charter in 1957. The Institution has offices in Rugby, Warwickshire, ...

, and the Cadman Medal from the Institute of Petroleum. He received honorary doctorates from Birmingham University and

Stirling University The University of Stirling (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals; ) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by a royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built within the walled Airthr ...

, and an honorary fellowship from the London Business School. Walters died on 11 July 2023, at the age of 92.

References

1931 births 2023 deaths British businesspeople in the oil industry BP people Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Knights Bachelor Alumni of the University of Birmingham Businesspeople from Birmingham, West Midlands {{UK-business-bio-1930s-stub