About Kevin Rudd

Kevin Rudd wiil be Australia’s Ambassador to the United States of America, taking up his posting in Washington in March 2023.

Kevin served as Australia’s twenty-sixth Prime Minister from 2007 to 2010, then as Minister for Foreign Affairs, before a second term as Prime Minister in 2013. He was Member for Griffith in the Australian Parliament from 1998 to 2013.

Since leaving government, Kevin has resided in the United States where he is recognised as a leading analyst of China. In 2015, he became inaugural President of the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York. In 2020, he was appointed President and CEO of the Asia Society globally and, in 2022, he founded the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis.

In 2019, Kevin was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia for eminent service to Indigenous reconciliation, innovative economic initiatives, and major policy reform, and through senior advisory roles with international organisations.

He holds honorary positions at the Asia Society; Atlantic Council; Bloomberg New Economy Forum; Center for Strategic and International Studies; Chancellor Helmut Schmidt Foundation; Chatham House; Friends of the Paris Agreement; Museum of Australian Democracy; Paulson Institute; Paris School of International Affairs; and Stephen A. Schwartzman Education Foundation. He is co-chair of an Australian charity, the National Apology Foundation, and a trustee of the Cathedral of St John the Divine in New York City.

Kevin started his diplomatic career in 1981 with postings to Beijing and Stockholm. In 1988, he was appointed Chief of Staff to the Hon. Wayne Goss and served him as Premier of Queensland. He was Director-General of the Cabinet Office from 1991 to 1995, and Senior China Consultant for KPMG from 1996 to 1998.

Kevin graduated with Honours in Asian Studies from the Australian National University and received his PhD from Oxford University in 2022. He also studied at National Taiwan Normal University in Taipei. He is the author of several books, including The Avoidable War: The Dangers of a Catastrophic Conflict between the US and Xi Jinping’s China.

Kevin is accompanied on his posting by his wife, Thérèse Rein.