Cook's public service began in 1954 with a cadetship at the Department of External Affairs.[2] His work took him to countries such as Egypt, Thailand, Indonesia and the United States.[2]
While working in London, Cook was convinced by Australian prime minister Malcolm Fraser to return to Australia in 1979 to become his chief executive officer in his private office.[1][4]
After working for Fraser from 1979 to 1981, Cook became the Director-General of the Office of National Assessments.[1][5] Serving in this role from 1981 to 1989, Cook became the longest serving director-general of ONA.[2]
After concluding his role as the ambassador of Australia to the United States in 1993, Cook relocated to London where he was the chairman of the Menzies Centre for Australian Studies at King's College London from 1997 to 2011.[2]
Personal life
After becoming engaged in December 1956, Cook married art historian Helen Ibbitson in London and had four children.[10][11]
After the couple divorced, Ibbitson relocated to the United States and married legal counsel to the National Gallery of Art Phillip C. Jessup Jr., who became stepfather to Cook's four children.[12]
Cook's daughter Genevieve Cook commenced a two-year relationship with Barack Obama in 1983.[13]
Cook died in London on 18 June 2017 at the age of 85.[15] A private funeral service was held for Cook but relatives, friends and neighbours were invited to a public gathering at his home on 6 July 2017 to celebrate his life.[15]
Inexplicably, Cook was posthumously chosen in 2018 to be a "patron of mateship" by Australia's ambassador to the United States Joe Hockey to support bilateral relations.[16] Australian historian Frank Bongiorno described the announcement as "really puzzling".[17]
^"ASIO mole report stays under wraps". The Age. 2 November 2004. Retrieved 20 December 2022. Mr Cook's report has been passed to successive attorneys-general. Yesterday a spokesman for Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said the Government would not release it.
^Patrick, Aaron (26 October 2016). "Official ASIO history says it was penetrated by foreign spies". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 20 December 2022. An official inquiry into the possible penetration of ASIO in 1994 by former diplomat Michael Cook has never been released.
^"Personal notes". The Fleur-de-Lys. Trinity College, Melbourne. November 1957. Retrieved 20 December 2022. Michael Cook, who recently married Helen Ibbitson in London, has been posted to Bangkok after spending a period in Egypt
^Bernstein, Adam (9 September 2013). "Philip C. Jessup Jr., mining executive and legal adviser to National Gallery of Art, dies at 86". The Washington Post. Survivors include his wife of 44 years, art historian Helen Ibbitson Jessup of Norfolk; three children from his first marriage, Timothy Jessup of Jakarta and Nancy Jessup and Margaret Jessup, both of Northampton, Mass.; four stepchildren, Genevieve Cook, Lucinda Martindale of Dingle, Ireland, Francesca Cook-Hagen of Brussels and Alexander Cook of Manhattan, N.Y.
