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Michael John Cook AO (28 October 1931 – 18 June 2017) was an Australian diplomat.

He was the director-general of the Office of National Assessments from 1981 to 1989 before becoming the Ambassador of Australia to the United States from 1989 to 1993.

Early life

Cook was born in Burma on 28 October 1931.

He graduated from Geelong Grammar School and was awarded a scholarship to attend Trinity College at the University of Melbourne where he studied law.

Career

Cook's public service began in 1954 with a cadetship at the Department of External Affairs. His work took him to countries such as Egypt, Thailand, Indonesia and the United States.

In 1973, Cook was appointed as the Ambassador of Australia to Vietnam prior to being appointed the deputy high commissioner of Australia to the United Kingdom in 1975.

While working in London, Cook was convinced by Australian prime minister Malcolm Fraser to return to Australia in 1979 to become his chief executive officer in his private office.

After working for Fraser from 1979 to 1981, Cook became the Director-General of the Office of National Assessments. Serving in this role from 1981 to 1989, Cook became the longest serving director-general of ONA.

In 1989, Cook was appointed as the 14th Ambassador of Australia to the United States of America.

One of Cook's final duties in this role was opening an inquiry into whether the KGB had infiltrated the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation. The findings of this enquiry have never been released.

After concluding his role as the ambassador of Australia to the United States in 1993, Cook relocated to London where he was the chairman of the Menzies Centre for Australian Studies at King's College London from 1997 to 2011.

Personal life

After becoming engaged in December 1956, Cook married art historian Helen Ibbitson in London and had four children.

After the couple divorced, Ibbitson relocated to the United States and married legal counsel to the National Gallery of Art Phillip C. Jessup Jr., who became stepfather to Cook's four children.

Cook's daughter Genevieve Cook commenced a two-year relationship with Barack Obama in 1983.

For his public service, Cook was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the 1990 Australia Day Honours.

Cook died in London on 18 June 2017 at the age of 85. A private funeral service was held for Cook but relatives, friends and neighbours were invited to a public gathering at his home on 6 July 2017 to celebrate his life.

Inexplicably, Cook was posthumously chosen in 2018 to be a "patron of mateship" by Australia's ambassador to the United States Joe Hockey to support bilateral relations. Australian historian Frank Bongiorno described the announcement as "really puzzling".

References

1. ^ Walters, Patrick (20 September 1988). "Thinking man's spy to get us posting". The Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
2. ^ "Community News". Light Blue. Geelong Grammar School. September 2017. p. 30. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
3. "Ambassador appointed". The Canberra Times. 18 December 1973. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
4. "New position created in PM's office reshuffle". The Canberra Times. 28 September 1979. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
5. "New head of ONA named". The Canberra Times. 16 January 1981. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
6. "Ambassador to head ONA". The Canberra Times. 26 January 1989. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
7. Abjorensen, Norman (19 April 1994). "State of crisis in our intelligence services". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
8. "ASIO mole report stays under wraps". The Age. 2 November 2004. Retrieved 20 December 2022. Mr Cook's report has been passed to successive attorneys-general. Yesterday a spokesman for Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said the Government would not release it.
9. Patrick, Aaron (26 October 2016). "Official ASIO history says it was penetrated by foreign spies". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 20 December 2022. An official inquiry into the possible penetration of ASIO in 1994 by former diplomat Michael Cook has never been released.
10. "ENGAGEMENTS: Cook - Ibbitson". The Canberra Times. 22 December 1956. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
11. "Personal notes". The Fleur-de-Lys. Trinity College, Melbourne. November 1957. Retrieved 20 December 2022. Michael Cook, who recently married Helen Ibbitson in London, has been posted to Bangkok after spending a period in Egypt
12. Bernstein, Adam (9 September 2013). "Philip C. Jessup Jr., mining executive and legal adviser to National Gallery of Art, dies at 86". The Washington Post. Survivors include his wife of 44 years, art historian Helen Ibbitson Jessup of Norfolk; three children from his first marriage, Timothy Jessup of Jakarta and Nancy Jessup and Margaret Jessup, both of Northampton, Mass.; four stepchildren, Genevieve Cook, Lucinda Martindale of Dingle, Ireland, Francesca Cook-Hagen of Brussels and Alexander Cook of Manhattan, N.Y.
13. Murphy, Damien (4 May 2012). "Voice like a wind chime: the diary of Obama's lover from Australia". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
14. "Mr Michael John Cook". It's an Honour. Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 1990. Retrieved 20 December 2022. Citation: in recognition of service to the Public Service; Announcement event: Australia Day 1990 Honours List
15. ^ "Michael John Cook AO". The Times. 23 June 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
16. March, Stephanie (7 July 2018). "Australia's US ambassador Joe Hockey accepts responsibility for 15 white men 'mateship patrons'". ABC News. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
17. Frank Bongiorno (July 7, 2018). "This is really puzzling. Former Australian Ambassador to the US Michael Cook AO listed as one of the mateship ambassadors. But he died last year" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

• 1931 births
• 2017 deaths
• Australian diplomats
• Ambassadors of Australia to the United States
• Ambassadors of Australia to Vietnam
• Officers of the Order of Australia
• People from Yangon
• People educated at Geelong Grammar School