| David Irvine | |
| Order: | 12th |
| Office: | Director-General of Security |
| Term Start: | 30 March 2009 |
| Term End: | 14 September 2014 |
| Primeminister: | Kevin Rudd Julia Gillard Tony Abbott |
| Predecessor: | Paul O'Sullivan |
| Successor: | Duncan Lewis |
| Order2: | 10th |
| Office2: | Director-General of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service |
| Term Start2: | 1 March 2003 |
| Term End2: | 27 March 2009 |
| Primeminister2: | John Howard Kevin Rudd |
| Predecessor2: | Allan Taylor |
| Successor2: | Nick Warner |
| Birth Date: | 10 January 1947 |
| Birth Place: | Perth, Western Australia |
| Death Place: | Canberra, Australian Capital Territory |
| Nationality: | Australian |
| Alma Mater: | University of Western Australia |
| Occupation: | Diplomat |
David Taylor Irvine, (10 January 1947 – 30 March 2022) was an Australian diplomat who, from March 2009 to September 2014, was the Director-General of Security, the head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO). Prior to his appointment to ASIO, he was Director-General of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) from 2003 to 2009.[1] In 2017 he was appointed Chair of the Foreign Investment Review Board.[2]
Irvine was born in Perth, Western Australia,[3] and studied at Hale School and the University of Western Australia, graduating with honours in Elizabethan history. He worked as a journalist in Perth, and joined the Department of External Affairs (the Australian foreign service) in 1970, and serving as a diplomat in Rome (1970–1973) later in Jakarta (1976–1980). Other diplomatic appointments included postings as a Counsellor (later Minister) in Beijing (1982–1986) and Minister in Jakarta (1988–1990).[4] In 1996 to 1999 Irvine served as Australian High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea,[5] and was Australian Ambassador to China from 2000 to 2003.
Irvine wrote two books about Indonesia: a 1990 English translation of Bisma: Warrior Priest of the Mahabharata by Satyagraha Hurip,[6] and Leather Gods & Wooden Heroes: Java's Classical Wayang (1996; about Indonesian Wayang shadow puppets).[7]
Irvine died in Canberra on 30 March 2022 after a period of illness and a stroke, aged 75.[8]
Irvine was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in June 2005.[9]