# Brian Oakley

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British civil servant and industrialist

Brian Wynne Oakley CBE FBCS FInstP Born (1927-10-10)10 October 1927 Died 17 August 2012(2012-08-17) (aged 84) Citizenship United Kingdom Alma mater Exeter College, Oxford Occupations Civil servant Businessman Information technologist Years active 1950–2000 Employer(s) Royal Signals; Telecommunications Research Establishment; Government of the UK; Logica Organization(s) British Computer Society (President, 1988–1989); Computer Conservation Society (Chair, 1996–2000) Known for Alvey Programme (1983–1987); Helping to save Bletchley Park Board member of Computer Centre, University of London; Logica Awards Commander of the Order of the British Empire; Honorary doctorate, Sheffield Hallam University (1994); Honorary doctorate, University of Essex (1998)

**Brian Wynne Oakley**, [CBE](/source/Commander_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire) [FBCS](/source/Fellow_of_the_British_Computer_Society) [FInstP](/source/Fellow_of_the_Institute_of_Physics) (10 October 1927 – 17 August 2012)[1] was a British civil servant and industrialist who took a leading role in the area of information technology, especially the 1980s [Alvey Programme](/source/Alvey_Programme).

## Career

### Military service and education

In [World War II](/source/World_War_II), Oakley served with the [Royal Signals](/source/Royal_Signals) as a [subaltern](/source/Subaltern_(military)).[2] He then studied science at [Exeter College, Oxford](/source/Exeter_College%2C_Oxford).[3]

### Information technology

In 1950, Oakley joined the [Telecommunications Research Establishment](/source/Telecommunications_Research_Establishment) (TRE)[2] where he undertook research in [telecommunications](/source/Telecommunications) and civilian applications of military research. He then worked in [Whitehall](/source/Whitehall) as a civil servant, joining the [Ministry of Technology](/source/Ministry_of_Technology) under the [Harold Wilson](/source/Harold_Wilson) government in 1969. Subsequently, he became the chief official of the [Science and Engineering Research Council](/source/Science_and_Engineering_Research_Council) (SERC).

Oakley was director of the United Kingdom [Alvey Programme](/source/Alvey_Programme) (1983–87), a [British government](/source/British_government)-sponsored research programme for projects in the area of information technology, initiated as a reaction to the Japanese [Fifth generation computer](/source/Fifth_generation_computer) project.[4][5] He went on to be chairman of the software company [Logica](/source/Logica).[2] He chaired the managing board of the Computer Centre of the [University of London](/source/University_of_London), a major UK supercomputing centre, and was a director of the European Initiative for Quantum Computing.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

From 1988 to 1989, Oakley was president of the [British Computer Society](/source/British_Computer_Society).[6] In 1991, on hearing that [British Telecom](/source/British_Telecom) planned to dispose of its site at [Bletchley Park](/source/Bletchley_Park) for housing, together with [Tony Sale](/source/Tony_Sale), he helped to save the site,[7] establish the Bletchley Park Trust, and became a director of the Trust.[2] He was chairman of the [Computer Conservation Society](/source/Computer_Conservation_Society) from 1996 to 2000.

## Awards and recognition

Oakley was a [Commander of the Order of the British Empire](/source/Commander_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire). He received honorary doctorates from [Sheffield Hallam University](/source/Sheffield_Hallam_University) (1994)[8] and the [University of Essex](/source/University_of_Essex) (1998).[3]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-The_Daily_Telegraph_1-0)** ["Death announcement: Brian Oakley"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140416181144/http://announcements.telegraph.co.uk/deaths/153058/oakley-brian-wynne-10.10.27). *[The Daily Telegraph](/source/The_Daily_Telegraph)*. 21 August 2012. Archived from [the original](http://announcements.telegraph.co.uk/deaths/153058/oakley-brian-wynne-10.10.27) on 16 April 2014. Retrieved 21 August 2012.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-resurrection_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-resurrection_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-resurrection_2-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-resurrection_2-3) [Campbell-Kelly, Martin](/source/Martin_Campbell-Kelly) (Winter 2012). "Obituary: Brian Wynne Oakley". *Resurrection: The Bulletin of the Computer Conservation Society*. **60**: 34.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-essex_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-essex_3-1) [Honorary Graduates — Brian Wynne Oakley, CBE](http://www.essex.ac.uk/honorary_graduates/or/1998/brian-oakley-oration.aspx), [University of Essex](/source/University_of_Essex), UK, 9 July 1998.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Brian Oakley and Kenneth Owen, *Alvey: Britain's Strategic Computing Initiative*, [MIT Press](/source/MIT_Press), 1990. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-262-15038-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-262-15038-7).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [Martin Campbell-Kelly](/source/Martin_Campbell-Kelly), [Review of *Alvey: Britain's Strategic Computing Initiative*](https://www.jstor.org/pss/3115764), *[Business History Review](/source/Business_History_Review)*, Vol. 64, No. 3, pages 570–572, Autumn, 1990. [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** [BCS Past Presidents](http://www.bcs.org/server.php?show=conWebDoc.1635) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20071003141357/http://www.bcs.org/server.php?show=conWebDoc.1635) 3 October 2007 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine), [British Computer Society](/source/British_Computer_Society), UK.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Clarke, Gavin (29 August 2012). ["RIP Brian Wynne Oakley: Saviour of Bletchley Park"](https://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/08/29/brian_wynne_oakley_obituary/). *The Register*. UK. Retrieved 28 December 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** [Honorary Awards](http://www.shu.ac.uk/hallampeople/honorary/) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20090608234721/http://www.shu.ac.uk/hallampeople/honorary/) 8 June 2009 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine), [Sheffield Hallam University](/source/Sheffield_Hallam_University), UK.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Brian Oakley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Oakley) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Oakley?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.