Jeremy Maxwell-Timmins was a producer and reporter at the BBC, covering major stories in the UK, the Amercas and beyond. In 1994 he joined the Board of BBC World Service, where he was responsible for all media across the Americas Region and then Africa and the Middle East. Amongst other things he launched BBC Arabic TV, The World Co-production in the USA and many production centres in Africa and the Middle East. On leaving in 2010, he spent a decade as a consutant with government and media owners in countries emerging from conflict.

Before working in the media, he was a professional drummer, and now plays regularly with jazz and rock bands  in Surrey, where he lives with his wife and two children. He was educated at Kingswood School, Bath and has an English degree from Oxford University.