18 Facts About Stephen O'Brien

Sir Stephen Rothwell O'Brien, was born on 1 April 1957 and is a British politician and diplomat who was the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.

Stephen O'Brien was formerly a Member of the United Kingdom Parliament, representing Eddisbury.

Stephen O'Brien was first elected in a by-election in July 1999, after Alastair Goodlad was made British High Commissioner in Australia by Tony Blair and thus had to leave Parliament.

Stephen O'Brien was born in Mtwara, Tanganyika Territory, and educated at Loretto School in Mombasa, at the Handbridge School, the Heronwater School, Sedbergh School and Emmanuel College, Cambridge.

Stephen O'Brien was the Executive Director of Redland Clay Tile in Mexico from 1994 to 1998.

Stephen O'Brien is a former member of the Social Democratic Party.

Stephen O'Brien was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development from May 2010 to September 2012.

Stephen O'Brien has served as a member of the House of Commons Select Committee on Education and Employment and on the Education sub-Committee.

From 1999, Stephen O'Brien has served on the Conservative Party's National Membership Committee.

Between 1995 and 1999, Stephen O'Brien was Chairman of the Public and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of BMP and sat on BMP's Committee of Management and Strategy sub-committee.

Stephen O'Brien was a trade member of the 1994 mission to Argentina and Brazil with the Rt Hon Sir Richard Needham MP.

Stephen O'Brien was elected a member of the South East Regional Council of the CBI, serving between 1995 and 1998, and sat on the CBI's International Investment Committee and Working Parties on Anti-Corruption and Corporate Governance.

On 7 March 2013 Stephen O'Brien was appointed to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom.

Stephen O'Brien was appointed Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, the top position at OCHA, on 9 March 2015.

Stephen O'Brien said in a note to correspondents that his office pledged to engage besieged populations and would continue to work tirelessly to bring lifesaving aid to those in need in Syria.

In March 2016, Stephen O'Brien assumed management of the upcoming World Humanitarian Summit, an initiative of the Secretary-General.

Stephen O'Brien was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to the United Nations and humanitarian affairs.

Stephen O'Brien married Gemma Townshend, a nurse, on 30 August 1986 in Bromley, Kent.