John W.H. Denton AO
Secretary-General of the International Chamber of Commerce
John W.H. Denton AO is Secretary-General of the International Chamber of Commerce, Paris. John was formerly Partner and CEO of Corrs Chambers Westgarth, the leading Australian independent law firm. John’s appointment to the ICC is the first time that an Australian has held such a position. He is a member of the Board of the global infrastructure investor - IFM Global Investors and a member of the Board of the UN Global Compact. He is Asia Pacific Chair of Veracity Worldwide Advisory Board.
John is Co-Chair of the B20 “Financing Growth and Infrastructure” Taskforce, Chair (emeritus) of the Business Council of Australia’s Global Engagement Task Force; Chairman (emeritus) of the Experts Group on Trade and Investment in Indonesia; and a founding member of the Australia-China CEO Roundtable.
He was a member of the Australian Government advisory panel overseeing the development of the ‘Australia in the Asian Century’ White Paper. He was on the Government’s Cabinet sub-committee for the White Paper review process published in October 2012 and later a member of the Strategic Advisory Board advising the Government on implementation and emerging policy issues.
A former diplomat, John was a Panel Member of the Independent Review of Aid Effectiveness and was the founding Chairman of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees Australia for more than a decade.
John has a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) and a Bachelor of Law from the University of Melbourne and is a Harvard Business School Alumnus.