Gus O'Donnell, Baron O'Donnell

The Right Honourable The Lord O'Donnell GCB
Cabinet Secretary
In office 1 September 2005 – 31 December 2011
Prime Minister	Tony Blair Gordon Brown David Cameron
Preceded by	Andrew Turnbull
Succeeded by	Jeremy Heywood
Head of the Home Civil Service
In office 1 September 2005 – 31 December 2011
Prime Minister	Tony Blair Gordon Brown David Cameron
Preceded by	Andrew Turnbull
Succeeded by	Bob Kerslake
Permanent Secretary for the Cabinet Office
In office 1 September 2005 – 31 December 2011
Minister	John Hutton Hilary Armstrong Ed Miliband Liam Byrne Tessa Jowell Francis Maude
Preceded by	Andrew Turnbull
Succeeded by	Ian Watmore
Permanent Secretary for the Treasury
In office 26 June 2002 – 2 August 2005
Chancellor	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	Andrew Turnbull
Succeeded by	Nicholas Macpherson
Personal details
Born	1 October 1952 (1952-10-01) South London, United Kingdom
Alma mater	University of Warwick Nuffield College, Oxford University of Glasgow

Augustine Thomas O'Donnell, Baron O'Donnell GCB (born 1 October 1952) is a former British senior civil servant and economist, who between 2005 and 2011 (under three Prime Ministers) served as the Cabinet Secretary, the highest official in the British Civil Service.

O'Donnell announced after the 2010 General Election that he would step down within that Parliament, and did so at the end of the year 2011. His post was split into three positions: he was succeeded as Cabinet Secretary by Sir Jeremy Heywood, as Head of the Home Civil Service by Sir Bob Kerslake (in a part-time role), and as Permanent Secretary in the Cabinet Office by Ian Watmore. Whilst Cabinet Secretary, O'Donnell was regularly referred to within the Civil Service and subsequently in the and popular press, as GOD; this was both because of his initials, and as a sign of the esteem he commanded.

Background

O'Donnell was born and raised in south London. Educated at Salesian College, Battersea, he read Economics at the University of Warwick before taking his M.Phil. degree at Nuffield College, Oxford. He was a Lecturer at the University of Glasgow in the Political Economy Department from 1975 until 1979, when he joined the Treasury as an economist.

In 1985, he joined the British Embassy in Washington, serving as the First Secretary of the Economics division for four years. In 1989 O'Donnell became Press Secretary for the Chancellor of the Exchequer before transferring next door to serve as Press Secretary to the Prime Minister from 1990 to 1994.

From 1997 to 1998, O'Donnell was the United Kingdom's Executive Director to both the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, again in Washington, before returning to HM Treasury to serve as both Director of Macroeconomic Policy and Prospects and also Head of the Government Economics Service, with overall responsibility for the professional economists in Her Majesty's Government. A year later, in 1999, he was appointed Managing Director of Macroeconomic Policy and International Finance, with responsibility for Fiscal Policy, International Development, and European Union Economic and Monetary Union.

Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service

In 2002, O'Donnell took over from Sir Andrew Turnbull, now Lord Turnbull of Enfield, as Permanent Secretary of the Treasury when Sir Andrew became Cabinet Secretary. Three years later, on 15 June 2005, it was announced that O'Donnell would again replace Turnbull, this time as Cabinet Secretary, on the latter's retirement at the end of that summer. He took up office in September 2005.

O'Donnell is known for his "wondrous interpersonal gifts" and his informal style. He regularly visits Civil Service departments outside London "to meet civil servants at work".

The annual remuneration for this position is £235,000.

In his role as Cabinet Secretary, O'Donnell was responsible for overseeing the review of Christopher Meyer's controversial memoirs, DC Confidential, in November 2005. The previous month he had told the Public Administration Select Committee that it was "wrong" for civil servants to publish personal memoirs.

Channel 4 News on 10 August 2010 had reported that O'Donnell would leave his post before the end of the current Parliament.

In January 2011, it emerged that O'Donnell had decided not to publish correspondence sent between Tony Blair and George W Bush prior to the 2003 invasion. The papers were, however, provided to the Iraq Inquiry itself. His reasoning is explained in several documents between himself and Sir John Chilcot.

In November 2010, O'Donnell published a draft copy of the Cabinet Manual. This document outlines the laws, rules and conventions that apply to the British executive.

On 11 October 2011, it was announced by Downing Street that O'Donnell was to retire at the end of the year. His successor was announced as the Downing Street Permanent Secretary Jeremy Heywood.

On 22 December 2011, O'Donnell said that the future of the Union is one of several “enormous challenges” facing the political establishment in the coming years. The admission from such a senior non-political figure that the break-up of Britain is now a real possibility is likely to push the issue up the political agenda. “Over the next few years there will be enormous challenges, such as whether to keep our kingdom united,” he warns officials and politicians.

Peerage

On 10 January 2012, O'Donnell was created a life peer as Baron O'Donnell, of Clapham in the London Borough of Wandsworth, and was introduced in the House of Lords, where he sits as a Crossbencher on 12 January 2012.

Personal interests

O'Donnell is a keen sportsman, having played football for the University of Warwick First XI and for Oxford, earning two Blues in 1973/4 and 1974/5. While Permanent Secretary at the Treasury he won a football medal at the annual Civil Service Sports Day - the first Permanent Secretary to do so. O'Donnell has played for the Mandarins Cricket Club for many years, the third Cabinet Secretary to do so (the others being Sir Robin Butler and Sir Andrew Turnbull). He is keen supporter of Manchester United.

O'Donnell is a Governor of his alma mater, Salesian College, Battersea. He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the 2005 Birthday Honours and Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) in the 2011 Birthday Honours.

He is married, with one daughter. He is a Visiting Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford.

Titles

• Gus O'Donnell 1952 - 2005
• Sir Gus O'Donnell KCB 2005 - 2011
• Sir Gus O'Donnell GCB 2011
• Rt. Hon. The Lord O'Donnell GCB 2012 - present

External links

• The Guardian article on O'Donnell becoming Cabinet Secretary
• BBC News background profile article on O'Donnell on his attaining Permanent Secretaryship
• BBC News background profile article on his attaining Cabinet Secretaryship
• Cabinet Office biography

Government offices
Preceded by Andrew Turnbull	Permanent Secretary for the Treasury 2002–2005	Succeeded by Nicholas Macpherson
	Cabinet Secretary 2005–2011	Succeeded by Jeremy Heywood
	Head of the Home Civil Service 2005–2011	Succeeded by Bob Kerslake
	Permanent Secretary for the Cabinet Office 2005–2011	Succeeded by Ian Watmore