David Michael Forrester FRSA (22 June 1944) is a British consultant and former civil servant.

He was born to Reginald and Minnie Forrester and educated at St. Paul’s School before matriculating to King's College, Cambridge

King's College, Cambridge

King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....

, where he gained a first class BA in 1966 followed by an MA. He was an inaugural Kennedy Scholar

Kennedy Scholarship

Kennedy Scholarships provide full funding for six to eight British post-graduate students to study at either Harvard University or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology...

 and attended Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 before returning to the United Kingdom, where he joined the Department of Education and Science (DES) in 1967.

From 1971 he worked as a private secretary to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for the department before his promotion to Principal in 1972. In 1976 he transferred to HM Treasury

HM Treasury

HM Treasury, in full Her Majesty's Treasury, informally The Treasury, is the United Kingdom government department responsible for developing and executing the British government's public finance policy and economic policy...

, where he worked for two years before returning to the Department of Education and Science as an assistant secretary. He transferred to the Department of Trade and Industry in 1985 to fulfil the same duties before moving back to the DES in 1988, this time as an Under Secretary. In 1994 he became head of Further Education, and in 1995 he was made Director of Further Education and Youth Training, a position he left in 2001. He currently serves as a governor of City and Islington College

City and Islington College

City and Islington College also known as Candi, is a further education college located in the London Borough of Islington, England with five major sites across Islington. It is a member of the 157 Group of highly successful Further Education colleges in England, of which it's principal Frank...

 and works as an independent consultant.

Personal life

His first marriage was to Diana Douglas in 1978; the marriage ended in a divorce in 1983. He remarried in 1993 to Helen Williams

Helen Williams

Helen Mary Williams CB is a British civil servant and Director of School Curriculum and Pupil Well-being at the Department for Children, Schools and Families....

, another civil servant, with whom he has two children, one son and one daughter.