Sir Brian John Maynard Tovey KCMG (15 April 1926 – 23 December 2015) was a British intelligence analyst who was director of the British signals intelligence agency, GCHQ, a post he held from 1978 to 1983.
Born in London, Tovey was educated at St Edward's School, Oxford, St Edmund Hall, Oxford and the School of Oriental and African Studies,[1] where he studied modern Chinese.
After national service in the Royal Navy, Tovey joined GCHQ in 1950.
[4] Following his retirement from GCHQ, Tovey became a consultant advising firms including Plessey[5] on dealing with Government departments.
[1] It is alleged that while he was Director of GCHQ, Tovey shared this interest with the head of the French SDECE, Alexandre de Marenches, and as a result GCHQ gained valuable intelligence on the war in Afghanistan.