The British expat community has a new Consul-General in the form of Chris O’Connor, who has taken over the post of C-G in Los Angeles from Dame Barbara Hay.
Chris (left) joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1993. Since then he has been posted in Cairo, Riyadh, Brussels, Ottawa, Beirut and, most recently, Tunis, where he was the UK’s Ambassador to Tunisia from November 2008 to June 2013. He has also worked at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office headquarters in London.
In London, Chris has worked on Southern European issues, United Nations issues and as Head of the Middle East Peace Process Team from 2004-2005.
In the Middle East/North Africa region, he has been posted in Cairo (1995-96) as Attache with the purpose of learning Arabic, Riyadh as Second Secretary (1996-1999) and Beirut as Deputy Head of Mission (2006-2008).
Outside of the region, Chris has worked at the UK delegation to NATO, where he focused on Kosovo issues, and as Head of Political Section in Ottawa (2000-2003). He also had the opportunity to work on secondment to the Canadian Department for Foreign Affairs (1999-2000).
Chris is married to Martha Nelems, who is Canadian. They have two daughters. Chris spends most of his leisure time enjoying their company, but also plays tennis and snooker when the opportunity arises and enjoys a range of other sports.
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