BP welcomes ex-spy boss to the boardroom
OIL GIANT BP has hired ex-MI6 chief Sir John Sawers, who will sit on its board as a non-executive director with immediate effect.
Sawers completed his five-year tenure as the top boss of the UK secret intelligence service in November 2014, and was the first MI6 chief to be appointed from outside of the service since 1968.
Before this he spent 36 years working for the government, holding positions such as the UK’s ambassador to the United Nations, political director of the foreign office, special representative in Iraq, ambassador to Cairo, and foreign policy advisor to the prime minister.
“John brings extensive experience of international affairs and geopolitics,” Carl-Henric Svanberg, chairman of BP, said.
Sawers isn’t the only former MI6 boss to head to the oil company. Former deputy chief Sir Mark Allen left the agency in 2004 and became an adviser to BP.