John Abernethy Dickson, CB (19 September 1915 – 20 March 1994) was a Scottish civil servant and forester.
Born in Udny on 19 September 1915, he attended Robert Gordon's College then the University of Aberdeen,[1] where he won the Sutherland Gold Medal in 1938 and graduated with MA and BSc degrees.
[2] Dickson then entered the Forestry Commission, but was transferred to the Ministry of Supply during the Second World War, where he worked in the Timber Production Department.
[2] He was the appointed Director-General and Deputy Chairman of the Forestry Commission in 1968 in succession to Sir Henry Beresford-Peirse.
[1] Serving until 1976, he did much to promote the commission's work to a sceptical Conservative government after 1970; he proved to be an effective administrator and implemented the mechanisation of the wood harvesting process.