The Oxford schoolboy who became the UK Bosnian ambassador

It’s a phrase I’ve already said many times, and still cannot get used to – perhaps I never will.

At no point during my childhood growing up in Oxford did I imagine I’d be doing something like this – who even knew what an ambassador did all day – and I cannot imagine it will ever stop being exciting.

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My connection to Oxford is lifelong – from arrival at the John Radcliffe, to school in Marston and then at Magdalen College School.

I left to work in Kenya for a year, then university and a job in Japan, before returning to Oxford Brookes, and a year working for Oxfam.

My family is still here, and the Oxford Mail is always on the kitchen table when I come visit them with my wife and kids.

I joined the Foreign Office 15 years ago, and it has been a more interesting and challenging career than I could imagine.

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I have worked on the Middle East Process, the Rio Olympics, the UK-Argentina relationship, been seconded to the EU, and worked in Croatia, Macedonia and Brazil.

Now I am the most senior diplomat in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a country as complicated as it is fascinating.

No two days are ever the same, but here are just some of the things that I have been doing recently:

- Giving an interview on local television, in Bosnian, about the recent elections, and what Brexit means for the UK’s relationship with the country

- Meeting a group of Bosnian scholars from our Chevening programme, about to go and study for a year in UK universities

- Talking to a colleague about a difficult consular case, a British citizen who has been hospitalised while on holiday without travel insurance

- Meeting the Defence Minister to discuss the country’s plans to join NATO

- Responding on Twitter to questions about the UK’s visa system

- Hosting a reception at the ambassador’s official residence for a charity that works with orphaned children, to raise funds and get local government support

- Presenting awards to local companies that have supported the LGBTIQ community

- Talking to the UK’s National Crime Agency about how to reduce the risk of people trafficking through the Western Balkans

- Meeting a politician who has been criticising the UK for sending troops to participate in the international military in Bosnia and Herzgovina

- Discussing with the German and US ambassadors over lunch how together we can best encourage reforms

- Talking to a group of UK visitors who are visiting Srebrenica to understand the genocide committed there in 1995

- Visiting an IT start-up company to hear about the challenges small businesses face, and what could help young people stay and succeed here

- Meeting the Northern Ireland football team before an international match in Sarajevo and receiving a shirt from Oxford United’s own Gavin Whyte (see below) – OK, so this only going to happen once!

If this sounds like a lot, remember that I am far from alone.

There is a team of dedicated colleagues in the embassy, some British diplomats but mostly Bosnian, and I am usually just the public face of all their hard work.

Our job, and the guiding principle of all our efforts, is to protect and promote the interests of the UK and its citizens.

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You can follow what I’m doing on Instagram and Twitter (@MattFieldUK) – this is 21st century diplomacy after all.

It’s an amazing career, and I’d recommend to anyone curious about the world out there, and looking after the UK’s place in it.