John Duncan took over as the  Permanent Representative to the UK's Mission on Arms Control in 2007

He was born in Dundee, Scotland, and brought up in Kenya, East Africa and England.  He was educated at Wycliffe College (Gloucestershire), Keele University and the Université de la Sorbonne, Paris. He is also a graduate of the NATO Defence College Rome (1992).

He entered the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1980 and has served with the FCO in London, Paris, Brussels and Albania; where in 1992 he established the first jointly located Anglo-French Diplomatic mission. He has also served on secondment with ODA (DfID) in Khartoum and in London; as well as with the NATO Military during the Kosovo Conflict.

He has held a variety of positions in the FCO including:

Scandinavia desk officer (1980), 3rd Secretary Political Paris (1982-84), Head of Section for Defence Sales & Out of Area Defence Policy (1988), Missile Technology Control Regime (1988-90); Deputy Head of Department for, South Atlantic & Antarctic Dept (1996-97), and Security Policy Department (1997-98). Director UK Trade and Investment for France, based in Paris (2002-2006).

From 1985-88 John was seconded to the UK Overseas Development Administration (now DfID) in Sudan during the famine of 1984/5. From 1990-91 he served as Assistant Private Secretary to the Minister of State for Overseas Development and Africa (Baroness Chalker).

From 1998-2001 John was seconded to be Deputy (UK) International Affairs Advisor to General Wesley Clark, the NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) during the Kosovo conflict and later to General Jo Ralston, as well as to the Deputy SACEUR Sir Rupert Smith.

John was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1993, the NATO Kosovo medal in 2001, and received the US Army Outstanding Civilian Service medal for his work in Kosovo.

He and his (French) wife Anne Marie have 2 children.