Sir Peter Ricketts, KCMG, is the Permanent Under Secretary of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, a senior civil servant in the United Kingdom.
Before Ricketts took over the position on the retirement of Sir Michael Jay, he served as the Permanent Representative to NATO in Brussels. He was also previously the Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee.
He was born in 1952 and read English at Pembroke College, Oxford.
http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/about/structure/PSMG/peter_ricketts.asp