Nicolas Harrocks OBE
Biography
Nicholas Harrocks has been Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy in Kyiv since June 2020.
Nicolas previously worked in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office’s (FCO’s) COVID-19 Repatriation Cell, helping to repatriate British Nationals stranded abroad as a result of the pandemic. Before that, he was Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy in Caracas from April 2016 to September 2019, and then undertook full-time language training in Ukrainian.
Nicolas was previously based in London, as the Deputy Head of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Counter-Terrorism Department, responsible for Middle East and multilateral issues from 2013 to 2016. Before that, Nicolas was seconded from the FCO to the Office of Tony Blair, the Quartet Representative, as senior adviser on the Middle East Peace Process. This followed Nicolas’s previous role as head of the Israel, Jordan, and Palestine Team at the FCO.
Earlier in his career, Nicolas took time out of the FCO to study an MBA at INSEAD, following which he worked for 4 years at the Belgian subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., a pharmaceutical company. Nicolas interrupted his MBA studies to work as Chief Political Adviser to the Commander of Multi-National Forces in South-East Iraq in summer 2003.
Further back, Nicolas was posted to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as Second Secretary in the Embassy’s political section, following a period of language training in Cairo. Nicolas is a dual British and French national and has enjoyed using all of his nine languages at work.
Deputy Head of Mission, Ukraine
The Deputy Head of Mission is a senior diplomat and typically a key advisor to the Ambassador or High Commissioner. The Deputy is responsible for the daily management of an overseas Embassy or High Commission. They will represent the UK’s interests in the absence of the Ambassador as Chargé d’Affaires. A senior ranking Deputy may also take the title Minister. Smaller missions may not have a Deputy Head.
Previous roles in government
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Deputy Head of Mission, Venezuela