George Ronald Richards OBE (27 November 1905 – 25 September 1985) was a British-born Australian police officer and intelligence operative.

In 1953 he was closely involved in Operation Cabin 12, arranging the defection of Vladimir Petrov from the Soviet Union to Australia.

In 1954, he was appointed Deputy Director-General of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), roughly equivalent to the FBI and MI5.

[1] In March 1942, he was key in the arrests of four members of the Australia First Movement in Perth, two of whom were convicted of conspiring to assist the enemy; the others were interned.

[2] Richards was appointed Perth's regional director of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation in 1949 after its formation on 16 March and became involved in the multi-national Venona project, looking into leaks of information to the Soviet Union discovered in diplomatic cables intercepted by the United States.

[1] In 1953 and 1954, as deputy director for New South Wales, Richards was in charge of Operation Cabin 12, the arrangement of the defection of USSR spy Vladimir Petrov.

Michael Bialoguski was assigned to stay close to Petrov and report on his activities to ASIO, for whom he worked part-time.

After Bialoguski was fired by ASIO, he told them on 23 November 1953 that Petrov and his wife wanted to defect but also threatened to go to the papers if he were not reinstated.