Paul Madden

Paul Madden commenced his appointment as British High Commissioner to Australia in January 2011. Prior to this he was British High Commissioner in Singapore from February 2007.

A career diplomat, he was previously Managing Director at UK Trade and Investment (2004-2006), responsible for co-ordinating and implementing international trade development strategies to support companies across a wide range of business sectors.

As Assistant Director of Information at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (2003-2004) he was responsible for public diplomacy policy, including managing the FCO funding of the BBC World Service, the British Council and the Chevening Scholarships programme. He led the team responsible for the award-winning UK pavilion at the Aichi Expo in Japan 2005.

He was Deputy High Commissioner in Singapore from 2000-2003 and has also served in Washington (1996-2000) and Tokyo (1988-92). Between 1992-96 he worked on EU enlargement and Environmental issues at the FCO in London.

Before joining FCO he worked at the Department of Trade and Industry (1980-87) on a range of industrial sectors and trade policy, including two years as a minister’s Private Secretary.

He has an MA in Economic Geography from Cambridge University, an MBA from Durham University, studied Japanese at London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies, and is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. His first book, Raffles: Lessons in Business Leadership, was published in 2003.

Married to Sarah, with three children, he was born in 1959, in Devon.