Graham Avery was educated at Kingswood School, Bath and at Balliol College, Oxford University where he obtained the degree of Master of Arts in Literae Humaniores (classical studies and philosophy). He began his career in public service in London in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, where he took part to the negotiations for British accession to the European Communities (ECs) and acted as Private Secretary to successive Ministers (Fred Peart, John Silkin).
Following the United Kingdom’s entry into the ECs in 1973, Mr. Avery joined the European Commission in Brussels as member of the Cabinet of Christopher Soames, Vice-President responsible for external relations. In 1977-80, he was adviser and then Deputy Head of the Cabinet of Roy Jenkins, President of the Commission. From 1981 to 1990, he held posts in the European Commission Directorate General for Agriculture (DG VI), first as Head of Unit for strategic questions and later as Director for rural development. He was member of the cabinets of several Commissioners responsible for agriculture (Finn Gundelach, Poul Dalsager, Frans Andriessen).
In the Directorate General for External Relations, Mr. Avery was Director for relations with the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand (1990-1992), and Director for relations with the countries of the European Free Trade Area (EFTA) and the European Economic Area (EEA) (1992-1993). As Director in the Task Force for Enlargement he participated in the accession negotiations with Austria, Sweden, Finland and Norway (1993-94), and was the Commission's negotiator with Austria. He was Chief Adviser for Foreign Policy Planning in 1995, and Chief Adviser for Enlargement in 1996-1998, responsible for the opinions on the applications for membership by countries of Central and Eastern Europe. In 1998-2000, as Inspector General of the Commission and head of the Inspection Générale des Services (IGS), he co-ordinated the report "Designing Tomorrow's Commission", and contributed to the White Paper on Administrative Reform. From 2000 to 2003, he was Chief Adviser for strategic questions in the DG for Enlargement; he contributed in this context to the Commission's "Agenda 2000" report and authored "Policies for an Enlarged Union" for the Commission's White Paper on Governance (2001). From 2004 to 2006, he acted as Director for strategy, coordination and analysis in the DG for External Relations.
Mr Avery has published articles in magazines and journals including, Prospect, European Affairs, International Affairs, World Today, Oxford International Review, European Environment Review, and the Journal of Agricultural Economies. He is co-author of the book, "The Enlargement of the European Union", published in 1998. Avery was a Visiting Fellow at the Robert Schuman Centre of the European University Institute, Florence, 2010, and is an Honorary Director of the European Commission.