Allan Gyngell was the National President of the Australian Institute of International Affairs, an Honorary Professor at The Australian National University, and Director of the ANU Crawford Leadership Forum.

He was the Director-General of the Australian Office of National Assessments (ONA) from 2009 to 2013, and prior to leading the ONA, he was the founding Executive Director of the Lowy Institute for International Policy from 2003 to 2009.

Additionally, Allan worked at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, serving as an Australian diplomat in Rangoon, Singapore and Washington. He was Senior Advisor (International) to Prime Minister Paul Keating between 1993 and 1996.

Mr Gyngell was appointed as an Officer in the Order of Australia in 2009 for services to international relations. In 2007, he co-authored Making Australian Foreign Policy with Michael Wesley. His most recent book, Fear of Abandonment: Australia in the World Since 1942, was released in 2017 to considerable acclaim.