Sir Andrew was a career diplomat from 1965 to 2003.  He held the office of British High Commissioner to Canada from 2000 to 2003 and previously served as Consul-General to Hong Kong and Macau (1997-2000), Deputy Under Secretary of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (1995-1997) and Ambassador to Israel (1992-1995).

A former International Governor of the BBC and on the boards of a number of charitable and investment trusts, he has been Chairman of Royal Holloway since 1994 and Chair of the Committee of University Chairs since 2008.