John Buchanan (oil executive)
Sir John Gordon St Clair Buchanan was a New Zealand-born scientist and director.
Buchanan was born in Auckland in 1943 and grew up in Papatoetoe. He received his education at Auckland Grammar School and at the University of Auckland, and at Oxford and Harvard Universities.
Buchanan joined oil and petrol company BP in 1970, where he progressed through the ranks and eventually was appointed by John Browne, Baron Browne of Madingley as the group's top finance executive, which caused surprise given that his background is in science and not in accountancy. He retired from BP in 2002, as the company has a strict retirement policy set at 60 years. For the next 12 years, Buchanan was with BHP Billiton, where he was an independent director. He was a director of Alliance Boots. He was deputy chairman of Vodafone. He was a director of ARM Holdings. He was a director of AstraZeneca.
Buchanan became chairman of Smith & Nephew in April 2006 and remained in that position until his death. He was chairman of the UK chapter of the International Cricket Council from May 2008 until his death. Following the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, he was founding chairman of the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal Trust UK that he set up with the help of the New Zealand High Commission in London.
In the 2012 New Year Honours, Buchanan was knighted for or services to industry. Buchanan had cancer since about 2011. He became unwell in late 2014 and relinquished some of his roles.
Buchanan died on 13 July 2015 and was survived by his wife, his son, and his daughter.
