Nicholas Coombs

Profile

Nicholas is a career diplomat. He was born in December 1961. He was educated at Dulwich College, London. He went to Selwyn College, Cambridge, on an Entrance Scholarship (and a Choral Exhibition) to read English in 1981, graduating BA (Hons) with a Double First in 1984.

He joined the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) on graduation. The FCO sent him to the School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS), London, in 1985 to start studying Arabic and then to Cairo for final examinations in May 1987. He was Second Secretary (Political) in Riyadh from 1987-1990: FCO (London) covering Islamic Fundamentalism (particularly Hizballah and the hostage crisis in Beirut), 1990 - 1993: First Secretary (Political) Amman, 1993 - 1997: FCO (London) Central Policy, 1997 - 2000: Counsellor (Political) Riyadh, 2000 - 2003: FCO (London), Middle East & North Africa, secondment to Cabinet Office, and Afghanistan issues, 2003 - 2008: Counsellor (Political), Copenhagen 2008: FCO (London), Security Challenges to Overseas Representation, 2009 to date.

Nicholas is married with two daughters and lives in Lancaster and London.