Rob Wainwright (civil servant)

For other people with the same name, see Robert Wainwright (disambiguation).

Sir Robert Mark Wainwright KCMG (born 17 September 1967) is a British civil servant. He was the director of Europol from 16 April 2009 until 1 May 2018. Wainwright began his career as an intelligence analyst with MI5. He later became a liaison officer to Europol, head of the British national Europol unit and the UK board Europol member. He was appointed Director of International Affairs of the UK's National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) in 2003 and head of the international department of the UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) in 2006. In April 2009, he became the Director of Europol serving until May 2018 when he was succeeded by Catherine De Bolle.^[2] In 2018, Wainwright was knighted for his services to policing and security.

Sir Rob Wainwright KCMG
Wainwright in January 2012
Executive Director of Europol
In office 16 April 2009 – 1 May 2018
Preceded by	Max-Peter Ratzel
Succeeded by	Catherine De Bolle
Personal details
Born	(1967-09-17) 17 September 1967 (age 58) Carmarthen, Wales[1]
Nationality	British
Education	London School of Economics (BSc)
Profession	Law Enforcement
Website	www.europol.europa.eu

Early life and education

He was raised in Pontyberem, Wales and attended Gwendraeth Grammar School. Wainwright attended the London School of Economics where he graduated with a BSc in 1989.^[3]

Career

Wainwright first worked for the United Kingdom's Security Service (MI5) as an intelligence analyst.

From 2000 to 2003, he was the UK Management Board member at Europol and a UK Liaison Officer. At the same time, he was Head of the British Europol National Unit in London.

In 2003, he was appointed Director of International Affairs of the UK's National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS), where he was responsible for international operations and for the development and implementation of a British strategy against illegal immigration. From 2006, Wainwright held the post of head of the international department of the UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA).^[4]

In April 2009, Wainwright was appointed Director of Europol, the European police office, being the first director who did not have a police background or come from a national police force.^[4] At Europol, he led a staff of over 800 personnel supporting law enforcement authorities in the 27 EU Member States, in particular to tackle international organised crime. Europol's became a formal EU agency on 1 January 2010, acquiring a stronger mandate and new capabilities.

On 1 July 2011, Wainwright hosted HM Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands as she officially opened Europol's new headquarters in The Hague. In March 2012, the Council of Justice and Home Affairs extended Wainwright's term of office as director until 2017. It was subsequently extended until 1 May 2018, after which he was succeeded by Catherine De Bolle.^[2]

In 2018, Wainwright was knighted for his services to policing and security.^[5] The same year, he was tapped to run Deloitte's European cyber practice.^[6]

Personal life

Wainwright is married and has three children. His interests include literature and history.

He has said society accepts that intercepting private phone calls is "a reasonable way to run a democracy".^[7][8]