William Ehrman

Sir William Geoffrey Ehrman (born 28 August 1950) is a retired British diplomat and former chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee.

Early life Ehrman was born on 28 August 1950 to the historian John Patrick William Ehrman and Susan Blake. He was educated at Lockers Park School and Eton College, followed by Trinity College, Cambridge, from which he graduated with a first class degree in Chinese.

Career Ehrman joined the British Diplomatic Service in 1973 and had postings in Beijing, New York and Hong Kong. He was Principal Private Secretary to three Foreign Secretaries from 1995 to 1997 and the British Ambassador to Luxembourg from 1998 to 2000.

He was the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Director General for Defence and Intelligence between 2002 and 2004, before becoming Chairman of the United Kingdom's Joint Intelligence Committee from 2004 to 2005 and British Ambassador to China from 2006 to 2010.

Personal life Ehrman is married to Penelope Anne Le Patourel (daughter of Brigadier Wallace Le Patourel ), and the couple have three daughters and a son.