Oliver Ballhatchet MBE
Biography
Oliver Ballhatchet MBE is the Deputy High Commissioner in Chennai, representing the UK in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
Oliver joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 2004, initially working on Counter-Terrorism, then Western Balkans, before heading to the British Embassy in Brasilia, Brazil to work on Energy and Global Climate Change.
In 2011, Oliver moved to the British Consulate-General in Rio de Janeiro, as Political Consul. During his nine years in Brazil, he was also the Olympic and Paralympic Attaché for the British teams at the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games. For this work Oliver was awarded an MBE in the 2017 New Year Honours List.
Before becoming Deputy High Commissioner in Chennai, Oliver served as the Deputy Head of the UK Government’s UN Peacekeeping Joint Unit. During this time he also sat on the Local Advisory Committee to the 2019 Street Child Cricket World Cup.
In 1998 Oliver was briefly a teacher in a junior school in Patiala, Punjab, before travelling the country by train. He has both a Degree and an Honorary Doctorate in Law.
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British Deputy High Commissioner Chennai
In some countries, the Deputy High Commissioner leads a subordinate office to the High Commission in another major city. The Deputy High Commissioner fulfils a similar role to a Consul General, representing the UK government and typically responsible for consular, visa and trade activities in their city or region.