"John brings extensive experience of international affairs and geopolitics," BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg said in a statement.
The "extensive international experience" includes being the UK's ambassador to the United Nations, political director of the Foreign Office, special representative in Iraq and policy advisor to former Prime Minister Tony Blair. As head of MI6 he is thought to have earned around £170,000 a year. Sawers' non-executive role with BP will earn him £90,000 a year.
Truth is crazier than fiction. BP hire ex MI6 boss to help them gain an advantage around globe http://t.co/33GIrgAmAf pic.twitter.com/jceKtoC0NH
— Wilderness Society (@Wilderness_Aus) May 14, 2015
The former spy chief is currently chairman of Macro-Advisory Partners and a visiting professor at King's College London.
But Sawers isn't the first MI6 boss to join BP. Former deputy chair Sir Mark Allen left MI6 in 2004 to become an advisor for the oil company, which until the 1990s was known as British Petroleum.
Sawers will help oversee the business that owns a fifth of the Russian company OAO Rosneft, which has been sanctioned by the US and Europe over the conflict in Ukraine.
Revolving Door Revelations
However, it's not just intelligence and British government officials joining BP — it goes both ways. BP's Chief Executive Officer for six years until May 2007, was the lead non-executive director for the Cabinet Office, before stepping down in January 2015.
Spooks and #oil: $BP names former UK intelligence service MI6 chief John Sawers to its board http://t.co/FUJtr9NGRN pic.twitter.com/dePrGnOaWd
— Javier Blas (@JavierBlas2) May 14, 2015
It is reported that BP's appointment of Sawers highlights the relevance geopolitics has for an oil giant operating in more than 80 countries around the world.
