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Paul Madden

British Ambassador to Japan

Part of UK in Australia

29th July 2011

The Poms’ Olympics may be even better than ours

High Commissioner Paul Madden speaking at the One Year to Go black tie dinner in Sydney

Australian Olympic experts were extraordinarily complimentary about the London Olympics at events I attended in Canberra and Sydney on Wednesday to mark the milestone of ‘One Year To Go’.

The Sydney event, a fundraising dinner for the Australian team, was a fantastic spectacle.  There were 800 people including some 80 Olympians.  The room was decked in Union Jacks with models of Big Ben on every table and we were entertained with songs from the Last Night of the Proms, and a medley of Beatles, Rolling Stones and Dusty Springfield.

Australian Olympic Chairman John Coates who had recently been in London told the crowd that it was shaping up to be the best Games ever.  He noted approvingly how well advanced the venues were, adding that part of the reason was the involvement of many Australians in the process.  I added that the Australian team would be sure to find a warm welcome in London given the close personal ties between our countries.  There was plenty of friendly jousting about the sporting rivalry between us.

Olympians are extraordinary individuals and it was a privilege to sit next to Anna Meares, the cyclist who came back from broken neck to win silver in Beijing.

There is a huge buzz here around the London Olympics.  I spoke at a large lunch in Canberra earlier in the day, and will be off to Adelaide next week for a similar event.

About Paul Madden

Paul Madden has been the British Ambassador to Japan from January 2017. He was Additional Director for Asia Pacific at the FCO in 2015.He was British High Commissioner to Australia…

Paul Madden has been the British Ambassador to Japan from January 2017.

He was Additional Director for Asia Pacific at the FCO in 2015.He was British High Commissioner to Australia until February 2015. Prior to this he was British High Commissioner in Singapore from 2007-2011.

A career diplomat, he was previously Managing Director at UK Trade and Investment (2004-2006), responsible for co-ordinating and
implementing international trade development strategies to support
companies across a wide range of business sectors.

As Assistant Director of Information at the Foreign and Commonwealth
Office (2003-2004) he was responsible for public diplomacy policy,
including managing the FCO funding of the BBC World Service, the British
Council and the Chevening Scholarships programme. He led the team
responsible for the award-winning UK pavilion at the Aichi Expo in Japan
2005.

He was Deputy High Commissioner in Singapore from 2000-2003 and has
also served in Washington (1996-2000) and Tokyo (1988-92). Between
1992-96 he worked on EU enlargement and Environmental issues at the FCO
in London.

Before joining FCO he worked at the Department of Trade and Industry
(1980-87) on a range of industrial sectors and trade policy, including
two years as a minister’s Private Secretary.

He has an MA in Economic Geography from Cambridge University, an MBA
from Durham University, studied Japanese at London University’s School
of Oriental and African Studies, and is a Fellow of the Royal
Geographical Society. His first book, Raffles: Lessons in Business
Leadership, was published in 2003.

Married to Sarah, with three children, he was born in 1959, in Devon.

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2012 london London 2012 olympics One year to go Politics