Terence O'Brien

Terence Christopher O'Brien (6 January 1936 – 30 December 2022) was a New Zealand diplomat. He led New Zealand in 1993 to a seat on the United Nations Security Council and played a strong role in helping to reshape New Zealand's perceptions of itself as a small but fiercely independent nation in the South Pacific. Early life O'Brien was born in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England, on 6 January 1936. His father, Wing Commander Oliver James O'Brien, was a pilot in the Royal Air Force (RAF) who was sent to New Zealand during the Second World War including to train pilots who fought in the battle of Britain. In 1940, he moved with his mother and sister to New Zealand by boat, narrowly avoiding being torpedoed by German U-boats, to follow his father who had taken up a post as Chief Air Instructor to the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) during the Second World War. Shortly after the end of the war, O'Brien returned from New Zealand, via ship, to the United Kingdom to be educated at Beaumont College, and later University College Oxford where he read history. Following graduation O'Brien returned to New Zealand with which he had developed a great affinity in his early years and joined the then Department of External Affairs (subsequently the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade) in 1959. O'Brien became a naturalised New Zealand citizen in 1962. Career O'Brien served as a diplomat with the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade for over 40 years from 1959 – 2001. He held early postings in the 1960s in Bangkok, London, and Brussels. It was in Brussels that as a first secretary he helped New Zealand to negotiate a special deal with the European Community giving access for New Zealand dairy products to Europe when the United Kingdom joined the Community in 1972. O'Brien then served as High Commissioner to the Cook Islands (1975–77), and then as Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva (1980–83), to the European Community in Brussels (1983–86) and finally to the United Nations in New York (1990–93) where he was instrumental in helping New Zealand to secure a seat on the UN Security Council. He was President of the United Nations Security Council during the war in Yugoslavia. While in New York, his leadership was a critical factor in New Zealand's securing a seat on the United Nations Security Council, despite competition from more favoured countries such as Spain and Sweden.