With almost 50 years at the BBC, John Simpson CBE is recognized as the BBC's most senior news broadcaster, devoting his entire working life to the media giant.

 

As from 2014 John has made himself available to take on more work, which includes, keynote speaking and after dinner, for which he receives great praise. 

John Simpson was born in Suffolk in 1944. He was educated at St Paul's School and went on to higher education at Magdalene College, at Cambridge University, of which he would become an honorary fellow.

Beginning his employment life with the world-renowned British Broadcasting Company in 1966, John's illustrious career saw him start out as a sub-editor in radio news for BBC, to now World Affairs Correspondent, tackling some of the most globally influential and dangerous news stories to date.

Reporting from 140 countries, interviewing public figures including international leaders, villains, royalty and game changers; names such as Margaret Thatcher, Saddam Hussein, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, King Hussein and King Abdullah of Jordan, Bashir al-Asad, Colonel Gadaffi, Nelson Mandela, and Robert Mugabe; John Simpson has carved a name for himself in British and International broadcasting, cementing his eminent media career as one of the most decorated in the industry.

John was honored in 1991 with a CBE as part of the Gulf War Honors list. Amassing two BAFTAs and an International Emmy, being named the Royal Society's Journalist of the Year, twice, as well as obtaining a Peabody award, John Simpson's name resonates dedication and is recognized as one of the most devoted journalists of our time.

Faced with some of the world's most defining moments and truly life threatening scenarios, John has relentlessly continued to break stories from across the globe, putting his life on the line in the name of journalism. He has danced on the Berlin Wall, dodged bullets in the Tiananmen Square massacre and survived an explosion in Iraq - a major moment in his career of which the translator escorting the journalist lost his leg and unfortunately died soon after.

Other momentous moments of John Simpson's career include reporting the fall of Kabul in 2001 following a series of visits to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, witnessing the rain of missiles on Baghdad in the first Gulf War, his station in Northern Iraq as part of the second gulf war, as well as his visit to Tehran with Ayatollah Khomeini during the Iranian revolution. In an ever-changing journalistic landscape, Simpson now concentrates on Iraq, Afghanistan, Nigeria, China, Russia and Ukraine.