Geoffrey Owen

Head of Industrial Policy


Sir Geoffrey Owen is Head of Industrial Policy at Policy Exchange. The larger part of his career has been spent at the Financial Times, where he was Deputy Editor from 1973 to 1980 and Editor from 1981 to 1990. He was knighted in 1989. Among his other achievements, he is a Visiting Professor of Practice at the LSE, and he is the author of three books – “The rise and fall of great companies: Courtaulds and the reshaping of the man-made fibres industry”, “Industry in the USA” and “From Empire to Europe: the decline and revival of British industry since the second world war.” He is the co-author, with Michael Hopkins, of “Science, the State, and the City: Britain’s struggle to succeed in biotechnology”

Geoffrey Owen

Related Posts & Publications

New directions in innovation policy

New directions in innovation policy

by | Jul 21, 2021

Related Content This new paper by Policy Exchange’s Head of Industrial Strategy, Sir Geoffrey Owen, sets out how the U.K. can pursue a new direction in innovation policy. Download Related Content Stay Up To DateJoin Our Mailing List The Exchange Podcast Support...
Visions of ARPA

Visions of ARPA

by | Jan 28, 2020

Related Content Embracing Risk, Transforming Technology A UK Advanced Research Projects Agency could have a transformative impact on technological innovation in the UK – but the Government must embrace failure if it is to be a success. Learning lessons from the US,...
Where next for Industrial Strategy?

Where next for Industrial Strategy?

by | Mar 12, 2021

Related Content   “A pudding without a theme” was how Kwasi Kwarteng, Business Secretary, speaking in the House of Commons this week, described Theresa May’s 2017 industrial strategy. He had been asked by Greg Clark, who was in charge of what Mrs May had renamed the...
Lessons from the US on Innovation Policy

Lessons from the US on Innovation Policy

by | Mar 18, 2017

Read Publication A commentary by Sir Geoffrey Owen, Head of Industrial Policy at Policy Exchange and former Editor of the Financial Times. Sir Geoffrey examines the reasons for US leadership in two key sectors, information technology and biotechnology, highlighting...