Ambassador Fernando d?Oliveira Neves was born on January 25th 1947, married to Isabel d?Oliveira Neves, no children and is a graduate in Law from the Lisbon University, Portugal. Between 1971 and 1972 he worked at the Department for Economy in Luanda, as an Economic Expert in the Planning and Research Unit, after which he was an officer in the Military Service until 1975, in Angola. He joined the diplomatic service in 1975, working in the Directorate General for the European Affairs in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, were he was in charge of the Portuguese candidacy to the EC. In 1978 he was appointed Adviser to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and in the same year he was posted at the Portuguese Permanent Mission to the UN, during which he was a member of the Portuguese delegation to the Security Council (1979-1980), and member of the Security Council Commission in charge of investigating the situation of the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories. In 1981 he was appointed as Chief of Cabinet for the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and in 1982 he was posted at the Portuguese Embassy in Washington D.C., as First Secretary.

From 1986-1990 he worked at the Permanent Representation to the European Communities, Brussels, after which, he was in charge of the organization of the 1st Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EC in 1992. From 1992 to 1994 he was President of the Institute for Economic Cooperation (Aid and Development). In 1994 he was appointed Director at the Common Foreign and Security Policy Unit, in the Secretariat-General of the Council of the European Union. From 1997-1999, he was Director General in charge of East-Timor in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Lisbon. Subsequently, in 2000 he was appointed spokesman for the 2nd Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union. In 2001 he became Ambassador to Luanda, Angola, and in 2002 Ambassador to Dublin. In 2005 he was posted as Portuguese Ambassador in The Hague and has returned to Lisbon as Secretary of State for European Affairs since March 2005.