Simon Collis


Simon Paul Collis, was a British diplomat who served as ambassador to several Middle Eastern countries before retiring from diplomatic service in February 2020.

Biography

Collis was educated at King Edward VII School, Sheffield, from 1967 until 1973 and at Christ's College, Cambridge.
He joined Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service in 1978 and served his first posting as Second Secretary in Bahrain from 1981–1984. From 1984– 1986 he served as Middle East Spokesman in the News Department of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. In 1986 he temporarily served at the UK mission in New York. From 1987–1988 he was Head of India Section in the South Asia Department. From 1988-1990 he was Deputy Head of Mission in Tunis. From 1990-1991 he was in the Gulf War Emergency Unit. From 1991–1994 he served as First Secretary in New Delhi, India. From 1994–1996 he was Deputy Head of the Near East & North Africa Department. From 1996–1999 he was Deputy Head of Mission in Amman, Jordan. From 1999-2000 he was seconded to BP. From 2000–2004 he was Consul-General in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
He was Consul General in Basra between 2004 and 2005. He was British Ambassador to Qatar 2005–07, and British Ambassador to Syria 2007–2012. He left Syria in February 2012, after the British Government withdrew their staff there. He was British Ambassador to Iraq from 2012 until September 2014. He presented his credentials as British Ambassador to Saudi Arabia on 3 February 2015.
Collis was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 2014 Birthday Honours for services to British interests in Iraq and Syria.
In 2016, Collis became the first UK ambassador to perform the Islamic pilgrimage of Hajj after converting to Islam.
In 2020, Collis retired as ambassador to Saudi Arabia and from diplomatic service.