Sir James Brian Unwin KCB (born 21 September 1935) is a former British civil servant and an author.
He was chairman of the board of HM Customs and Excise (1987–1993) and became president of the European Investment Bank in 1993, a position which he held until his retirement in 1999.
[1] He has served as president of the European Centre for Nature Conservation and as a member of the board of directors of English National Opera.
[2] Unwin has published two works of historical non-fiction, both dealing with the Napoleonic era: Terrible Exile: The Last Days of Napoleon on St Helena (2010), which was shortlisted for the Fondation Napoléon History Prize, and A Tale in Two Cities: Fanny Burney and Adèle, Comtesse de Boigne (2014).
[1] In 2016, Unwin published a memoir of his time in the civil service titled 'With respect, minister'.