Robert C. O’Brien
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Robert C. O’Brien

Robert C. O’Brien was the 27th United States National Security Advisor from 2019-2021. Prior to serving as NSA, O’Brien was the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs. O’Brien previously served as co-chairman of the U.S. Department of State Public-Private Partnership for Justice Reform in Afghanistan under both Secretaries of State Rice and Clinton.

O’Brien was also a presidentially appointed member of the U.S. Cultural Property Advisory Committee from 2008-2011. In 2005, O’Brien was nominated by President George W. Bush and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as a U.S. Representative to the 60th session of the UN General Assembly. Earlier in his career, O’Brien served as a Senior Legal Officer for the UN Security Council commission that decided claims against Iraq arising out of the first Gulf War. He was a Major in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps of the U.S. Army Reserve. O’Brien was the co-founding partner of Larson O’Brien LLP (now Larson LLP) in Los Angeles, a nationally recognized litigation boutique.

O’Brien holds a J.D. from the U.C. Berkeley School of Law. He received his B.A. in political science from UCLA.