Dr Owen Grey

Dr Owen Grey is a historian, author, public servant, and former diplomatic adviser, whose career has spanned international diplomacy and public leadership. Combining scholarly expertise with extensive experience at the heart of international affairs and policymaking, he is a sought-after speaker on history, geopolitics, diplomacy, leadership, and the challenges facing democratic societies.

Owen holds a doctorate in History from the University of Birmingham, where his research examined alliance politics, collective security, and the foreign policy of Romania in interwar Europe. He is the author of Romania, the Little Entente and the Struggle for Europe (Bloomsbury, 2026), the first major anglophone study of its kind, exploring the nature of European diplomacy, security, and statecraft between the two world wars.

Alongside his academic work, Owen has built a distinguished career in international diplomacy, security, and public policy. He spent more than six years at NATO during one of the most consequential periods in the Alliance's history, helping to shape its approach to defence reform, security cooperation, capacity building, counterterrorism, and international partnerships. His work included leading a coalition of nations to implement NATO's largest financial reform of cooperative security since the end of the Cold War, overseeing programmes worth approximately £100 million and supporting partnership activities with more than forty countries, across Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Indo-Pacific.

Owen played a leading role in reforming NATO professional development programmes in Ukraine and Georgia, championing the training of thousands of civil servants and military personnel to Euro-Atlantic standards. He also contributed to the Alliance's efforts to strengthen democratic governance and institutional resilience through anti-corruption initiatives developed in collaboration with organisations including Transparency International.

His diplomatic work helped expand NATO's relationships with the United Nations, African Union, League of Arab States, Gulf Cooperation Council, and Sahel G5, and he was closely involved in negotiations that led to NATO's first-ever policy on “Projecting Stability”, a landmark initiative that strengthened the Alliance's capacity-building, cooperative security, and counterterrorism activities across Eastern Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. He also served as a UK liaison to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and convened seminars in support of the UK Diplomatic Academy, helping to develop diplomats, military leaders, and public servants.

Drawing on experience across international institutions, academia and government, Owen offers audiences a rare perspective on how history shapes the present, how effective leadership is exercised under pressure, and how nations, organisations, and individuals can navigate an increasingly complex and uncertain world.