Major General Olly Brown

General Officer Commanding 3rd (UK) Division British Army

Major General Olly Brown is an infantryman who commissioned into the Royal Anglian Regiment in 1997. The early part of his career featured multiple operational deployments to Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan. As a Lieutenant Colonel, he served as Military Assistant to the Commander of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps before Commanding 2nd Battalion the Royal Anglian Regiment. As Commanding Officer, he deployed to NE Nigeria to advise the Theatre Commander in the conduct of operations to counter Boko Haram. As a Colonel, he served as Chief of Staff for 1st (United Kingdom) Division. During this appointment he attended the Higher Command and Staff Course.

Between May 2019 and July 2021, he Commanded 4th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters Northeast. During this period, he led Defence support to the NHS and other Government Departments in Yorkshire and the wider Northeast under Operation RESCRIPT. He also led the design and preparation of a UK reconnaissance force, which deployed from his Brigade to Mali, operating within the UN’s MINUSMA mission. The final six months of his tenure as Brigade Commander were spent deployed in Kabul as Commander British Forces Afghanistan and the last Commander of the Kabul Security Force, between January and July 2021. He then worked in support of the Home Office on the resettlement of Afghan people in the UK. Most recently, he served as Assistant Chief of Staff Operations within HQ Field Army, fulfilling the role of the Army’s Operations Officer, responsible for leading the Land Operations Command. Major General Olly Brown assumed command as General Officer Commanding 3rd (United Kingdom) Division in July 2024. He is married to Anna with whom he has two children, Felix and Willa. In between school runs and spending time with his family, he enjoys open water swimming and is a great cricketing enthusiast.