Sir Harold "Hooky" Berners Walker, (born 19 October 1932) is a British former diplomat. He served as British Ambassador to Bahrain (1979–81), the United Arab Emirates (1981–86), Ethiopia (1986-1990) and finally Iraq (1990–91).
The son of the late Admiral Sir Harold Walker and grandson of Lieutenant-General Sir Harold Walker, Sir Harold Walker was born in 1932, and attended Winchester College and later Worcester College, Oxford.
From 1956 to 1992 he was a career diplomat. From 1958 to 1962 he lived in Dubai, and subsequently served as British ambassador to Bahrain (1979–81), the United Arab Emirates (1981–86), Ethiopia (1986-1990) and finally Iraq (1990–91).
During the First Gulf War, he served to Iraq on his last duty from 1990 to 1991, and was awarded a KCMG in that year.
Since retirement from the diplomatic service in 1992, Walker has continued his interest in the Arab world. He is a member of Council for Arab-British Understanding (CABU), and a trustee of the Next Century Foundation. In 2004, he re-entered the public eye as one of the signatories of the letter to Tony Blair from former British diplomats criticising his approach to foreign policy in the Middle East.[1] [2] He was formerly Chairman of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs, and currently serves as one of its honorary vice-presidents.[3]