Terence O’ Brien was a born diplomat – urbane, clever, adaptable and hardworking, with a talent for strategy and negotiation. Although born in England, he was a loyal and dedicated New Zealander and spent most of his life working to improve the country’ s position internationally. In his 50-year foreign affairs career he lived and worked in Asia, Europe and the South Pacific, and was involved in some of New Zealand’ s most important diplomatic achievements of the 20th century, including establishing New Zealand’ s first embassy in China, securing trade agreements with the United Kingdom after it joined the EEC, dealing with the fallout from New Zealand’ s nuclear-free policy, directing New Zealand diplomacy during the Fiji coups, and gaining a seat on the UN Security Council during the turbulent early 1990s.