Who is Sir Olly Robbins?

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The former Foreign Office official is giving evidence to a select committee of MPs this week, having been sacked by Sir Keir Starmer and singled out for blame.

The prime minister said he had not been informed by his personnel that Lord Mandelson had failed security clearance to become the US ambassador.

Sir Olly defended his personal actions, stating he was working in an "atmosphere of pressure" in No 10 and that there was a “very strong expectation” that Lord Mandelson should be “in post and in America as quickly as humanly possible”.

He told the MPs that the Mandelson's reason for failing were not due to his links to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which was the reason he left the post in February.

The chain of events have been disastrous for Sir Keir, who has been accused by opposite number Kemi Badenoch of misleading the house.

But who is Sir Olly Robbins?

Who is Sir Olly Robbins?

Sir Oliver Robbins, who has always professionally gone by his nickname Olly, is a former top ranking British civil servant - who most recently served as permanent under-secretary at the Foreign Office from 2025 until last week when he left the position amid the Peter Mandelson scandal.

The 51-year-old, who has three children with his wife of 20 years Sherry Birkbeck, had risen to this position over a long career in the civil service which had also seen him hold roles such as:

• Head of corporate finance at HM Treasury: 2003-2006,
• Director of intelligence, security and resilience to the Cabinet Office: Late 2010s,
• Deputy national security advisor: 2010-2014,
• Director-general (civil service) at the Cabinet Office: 2014,
• Second Permanent Secretary of the Home Office: 2015,
• Permanent Secretary for the Department for Exiting the European Union: 2016-2017,
• Chief Negotiator for Exiting the European Union: 2017-2019

While not party political, Sir Olly has played senior roles in governments behind the scenes for decades and was knighted in 2019 for his public service, having been made a CBE in 2015.

Mandelson scandal

Sir Olly went from being a figure behind the scenes to a news item in his own right last week amid the fall out after an investigation into the hiring of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador.

The Government has said the Prime Minister only found out last Tuesday that Lord Mandelson was cleared for his role as Britain’s representative in Washington against the advice of security officials.

Sir Keir said he was “absolutely furious”, and described the failure to inform him as “staggering” - something which led to Sir Olly leaving his post.

During a hearing, Sir Olly said there was a “very, very strong expectation” from No 10 that Lord Mandelson “needed to be in post and in America as quickly as humanly possible” which led to him being appointed, despite the peer failing a security test.

In an assessment, Lord McDonald, permanent secretary at the Foreign Office from 2015 to 2020, said that Number 10 “wanted a scalp and they wanted it quickly”.

"I cannot see that there was any process, any fairness, any giving him the chance to set out his case, and that feels to me wrong," he said.

Sir Olly appears to have no regrets and said he does not “reflect negatively” on his own judgment or that of his colleagues.

Asked about whether he thinks about the consequences of the decision he made regarding Lord Mandelson’s clearance, he told the Foreign Affairs Committee: “I’ve had plenty of opportunity over the last few days to reflect on that.

“I think about the consequences of it right now I’m afraid for my wonderful family and for the fact that I don’t seem to be able to sleep in my own home and for various other things, but I don’t reflect negatively on the professionalism and the judgments of my colleagues or I hope myself.”