The current Ombudsman is Andrew Walker. He works part-time in that role.
After gaining a degree in physics, Andrew first worked as a nuclear physicist on submarine
propulsion systems, after which he joined ICL in Manchester, working for a number of years
with major customers, particularly local authorities, in the north-west of England. He then spent
thirteen years working for UK regulatory authorities. After three years at the Monopolies and
Mergers Commission, he moved to the Office of Fair Trading, where he was involved primarily in an
investigation into the selling of football Premier League broadcasting rights.
In 2001 Andrew moved to Oftel, and subsequently Ofcom, after it took over the work of Oftel and
a number of other communications regulators. Having spent nearly a year, in 2003, on secondment
from Oftel to the new Office of the Telecommunications Ombudsman (Otelo), in 2007 Andrew
successfully applied for the position of lead Ombudsman for telecommunications at Otelo. He
spent over four years in that role, taking overall responsibility for the handling of complaints about
communications providers, leaving in June 2012.
The current Ombudsman was appointed in November 2012 by the Waterways Ombudsman
Committee, following an advertisement and open competition for the post.