Gus O'Donnell, Baron O'Donnell

Thomas Augustine " Gus" O'Donnell, Baron O'Donnell, of Clapham in the London Borough of Wandsworth GCB ( born October 1, 1952) is a British economist, diplomat and government official who since 2012 as a life peer member of the House of Lords is.

Life

After visiting the Salesian College, London, O'Donnell began studying economics at the University of Warwick, where he graduated with a Master of Philosophy ( M.Phil. ) At Nuffield College, University of Oxford. He was then between 1975 and 1979 Lecturer in Political Economy at the University of Glasgow and subsequently joined as an economist in the Treasury (Treasury ) before him secretary at the embassy in the United States was engaged in foreign service between 1985 and 1988 first. In 1988 he returned as a senior economic adviser back in the Treasury and was then between 1989 and 1990 Press Secretary of the Treasury John Major.

After Major 1990 as the successor to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, O'Donnell was the press secretary and served in that role until 1994. During this time, he was among the participants of a meeting of the War Cabinet, as on 7 February 1991 by the Provisional Irish Republican Army grenade attack on Downing Street. 10 has been committed. In 1994 he was for his previous merits Companion of the Order of the Bath.

After he again returned to the Treasury and was until 1997 the Vice - Director, and at the same time British representative on the currency committee of the European Union, before joining as Minister for Economic Affairs to the Embassy in the U.S. and there at the same time British Executive Director to the International Monetary Fund (IMF was ) and the World Bank. Just a few months later he went back in, however, the Treasury, where he was both Head of the Macroeconomics and perspectives as well as Head of the Economic Service of the government until 2000. After a subsequent use there as Executive Director for Makroönomie and international finance as well as representatives of the Chancellor of the Exchequer at the Group of Eight, 2002 he was Permanent Secretary to HM Secretary and was until 2005 the chief administrative officer in the Ministry of Finance. For its local services O'Donnell Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath was led and henceforth the additional name "Sir".

After completing his work at the Treasury, he was appointed in 2005 by Prime Minister Tony Blair on 1 December 2005 as the successor to Andrew Turnbull to the Cabinet Secretary and was also the Permanent Secretary in the Cabinet Office and Head of the Public Service ( Head of Her Majesty 's Home Civil Service ). These functions he also held under Blair's successor, Gordon Brown and David Cameron until his retirement on 31 December 2011. Subsequently, he was awarded the Grand Cross ( Knight Grand Cross ) of the Order of the Bath honored. The offices held by him offices were divided then: While Jeremy Heywood Cabinet Secretary was, was Bob Kerslake head of the civil service and Ian Watmore new Permanent Secretary in the Cabinet Office.

O'Donnell was raised by a Letters Patent dated 10 January 2012 as the life peer with the title Baron O'Donnell, of Clapham in the London Borough of Wandsworth in the peerage. Shortly afterwards, was his introduction ( Introduction) as a member of the House of Lords. In the House of Lords he belongs to the group of non-party members, the so-called Cross Bencher.

Since 2012, O'Donnell worked for the London consulting firm Frontier Economics.