I am fortunate to have experienced a full and varied professional career throughout over 40 years of working life. This has spanned a variety of situations and disciplines at home and abroad, from my current specialisation in sustainability in sport to my earlier career in environmental management of golf courses and further back still to my work in conservation biology. Throughout my career I have been a strong advocate for professional standards in ecology and environmental management and the development of integrated approaches to sustainability.

Much of my career has centred on sustainability management of sport and major events. For nine years (from November 2003 to December 2012) I led the award-winning sustainability programme of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, still widely recognised as a benchmark for sustainability in the sport and events sectors.

I set up as an independent sustainability expert in January 2013, immediately following the end of my role at London 2012 and Sustainability Experts Limited was incorporated in April 2014.

Before my Olympic career, I spent 15 years working on the environmental aspects of golf course development and management, including six years as Executive Director of the European Golf Association Ecology Unit.  In 1997 I developed the first ever environmental programme for the Ryder Cup, which was held at Valderrama Golf Course in southern Spain. It was during this event, I organised the launch the Committed to Green programme for golf courses, which was taken forward by colleagues after I left to go to London 2012 and evolved into the highly successful Golf Environment Foundation for sustainable golf.

My original training and research was in conservation biology. My career began with a three-year research project at the University of Kent (Canterbury) studying the population ecology of wild tortoises. The fieldwork was based on southern France and spawned a major conservation programme, which is active and growing to this day at the Villages des Tortues at Carnoules in the Department of Var.

I am a founder member and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM, the UK’s professional body for ecologists and environmental managers). In 2013 I was awarded the CIEEM Medal, the Institute’s highest individual award, and I was also the inaugural winner of the Chartered Environmentalist of the Year Award from the Society for the Environment.

I live in West Raynham, a small village in North Norfolk, UK, with Jan my wife and partner of 45 years and our dogs. I have been a life-long enthusiast of birdwatching and natural history, which I try to fit in on my travels and in my spare time.