Sir David is a Visiting Professor in the Department of War Studies, King’s College London and sits on the advisory board of Paladin Capital, investing in cyber security start-ups. During his long career in British government service he held senior posts in security, intelligence and defence.

He was Director of GCHQ (the UK Signals Intelligence and Cyber Security Agency), Permanent Secretary in the Cabinet Office and UK Security and Intelligence Coordinator, responsible to the Prime Minister for the professional health of the intelligence community, national counter-terrorism strategy and “homeland security”. He also served in the Ministry of Defence as Deputy Under Secretary of State for Policy and was Principal Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Defence during the Falklands conflict. He served for three years with the Diplomatic Service as the UK Defence Counsellor in NATO, Brussels. He served for seven years on the UK Joint Intelligence Committee.

He was educated at the Glasgow Academy and was a foundation scholar in economics at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he is an honorary Fellow. He has been awarded honorary doctorates by Birmingham and Glasgow Universities. He gained a first in maths and theoretical physics with the Open University in 2008.

Research

• Intelligence analysis and warning
• The ethics of secret intelligence
• Leadership in crisis
• Digital intelligence

Sir David’s current research focusses on the use of generative artificial intelligence algorithms and machine learning to augment traditional intelligence methods and products.

Teaching

Lectures to War Studies MA courses in intelligence and counterterrorism.

Publications

Books

• Omand, D. How to Survive a Crisis: Lessons in Resilience and Avoiding Disaster, London: Penguin Viking, 2023
• Omand, D. How Spies Think: 10 Lessons in Intelligence, London: Penguin Viking, 2020
• Omand, D. Principled Spying: The Ethics of Secret Intelligence, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018
• Omand, D. Securing the State, London: Hurst, 2010, paperback edition 2012
• Omand D., Bartlett J., and Miller C., #Intelligence, London: Demos, 2012

Book chapters

• Omand, D., ‘The ethical limits we should place on intelligence gathering as part of an integrated counter-terrorism strategy’ in Horgan, J. G. and Taylor, M. (eds.) Ethics and Terrorism, London: Routledge, 2022
• Omand, D. ‘From the Inside-Out and then from the Outside-In: Reflections of a Former Practitioner Turned Academic’ in Arcos R., Drumhiller N. and Phythian, M. (eds.) The Academic-Practitioner Divide in Intelligence Studies, London: Roman & Littlefield, 2022
• Omand, D. and Phythian, M., ‘The Technoethics of Contemporary Intelligence Practice’ in Miller, S. (ed.) National Security: Intelligence and ethics, London: Routledge, 2021
• Omand, D., and Phythian, M. ‘What do we teach when we teach intelligence ethics?’ in Gearon, L. The Routledge International Handbook of Universities, Security and Intelligence Studies, London: Routledge, 2020
• Omand, D., ‘Means and Methods of Intelligence and their Wider Implications’ in Dietrich J.-H. and Sule S. (eds.) Intelligence Law and Policies in Europe, Munich/Oxford: C.H. Beck/Hart Publishing, 2019, pp. 39
• Omand, D. What should be the Limits of Counter-Terrorism Policy, in English R., (ed.) Illusions of Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism, Oxford: Oxford University Press (Winter 2015)
• Omand, D., ‘The Coastline of the Future: Some Limits on Forecasting and Prediction’ in de Franco, C., Meyer, C. O. (eds.) Forecasting, Warning and Responding to Transnational Risks, London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011
• Omand, D., ‘Necessary and Proportionate: Sir Michael Quinlan on Intelligence’ in Tertrais, B. (Ed.) Thinking about Strategy, Paris: L’Harmattan, 2011
• Omand, D. ‘The Limits of Avowal: Secret Intelligence in an Age of Public Scrutiny’ in Treverton, G. Agrell W. (eds.) National Intelligence Systems, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009
• Omand, D. ‘Ethical guidelines in using secret intelligence for public security’, in Andrew C., Aldrich R. J., Wark W.W., (eds.) Secret Intelligence, London: Routledge, 2009

Research articles

• Omand, D. ‘The threats from Digital Subversion and Sedition’, Journal of Cyber Policy, Chatham House 2018, 3(1), pp. 5-23
• Omand, D., Keeping Europe Safe: Counterterrorism for the Continent, Foreign Affairs, 95(5), Sept/Oct 2016
• Omand, D., ‘The 5- eyes’, Limes, Rivista Italiana di Geopolitica, Rome, July 2016. 6-16, pp.117-123
• Omand, D., Pythian M. ‘Ethics and Intelligence: A Debate’, International Journal of Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence, Vol 26, No. 1, 2013, pp 38-63
• Omand, D., Bartlett, J., and Miller, C., Introduction to Social Media Intelligence, Intelligence and National Security, Vol 27, Issue 6, 2012, pp 801-823
• Omand, D., ‘The 5- eyes’, Limes, Rivista Italiana di Geopolitica, 6-16, Rome, July 2016. pp.117-123
• Omand, D. ‘How many Schlesingers Would it Take to Change a Lightbulb: the Schlesinger Report of 1971’, Intelligence and National Security, Vol 24 No 3, June 2009, pp 418-422
• Omand, D. ‘George Tenet, At the Center of the Storm’, Review essay, Intelligence and National Security, Vol 24 No 2, April 2009, pp 291-303
• Omand, D. ‘How many Schlesingers Would it Take to Change a Lightbulb: the Schlesinger Report of 1971’, Intelligence and National Security, Vol 24 No 3, June 2009, pp 418-422
• Omand, D. ‘Can we have the pleasure of the grin without seeing the cat? Must the effectiveness of secret agencies inevitably fade on exposure to the light’. Intelligence and National Security, Vol 23 No 5 October 2008, pp 593-607

Policy papers

• Omand, D., From Nudge to Novichok, Working Paper, Helsinki, European Centre of Excellence for Hybrid Threats, May 2018
• Omand, D., Understanding Digital Intelligence and the Norms that might Govern it, Global Commission on Internet Governance Paper 8, London: Chatham House and Ottawa CIGI, March 2015
• Omand, D (chair), ‘The Security Impact of Drones: Challenges and Opportunities for the UK’, University of Birmingham: Birmingham Policy Commission, 2014
• Omand, D., Jon Venables: Serious Further Offence Review, London: Ministry of Justice, 2010