Guillermo de la Dehesa was born in Madrid in 1941, and he studied Law and Economics at the Universidad Complutense of Madrid. Between 1978 and 1988, he served at the ministries of trade, industry, and energy and economy and finance, appointed successively as director general of trade, secretary general of industry and energy, secretary general of trade, secretary of state of economy and finance, and secretary of the Commission for Economic Affairs of the Council of Ministers. He also worked at the Bank of Spain as director for international affairs and foreign reserves management between 1980 and 1983. Since 1988, he has held different relevant positions in the private sector. At present, he is vice chairman of Goldman Sachs Europe Ltd, an independent director and member of the executive committee of Banco Santander as well as of Unión Fenosa and Campofrío in Madrid, and of AVIVA PLC in London. He is chairman of the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) in London; member of the Group of Thirty in Washington; chairman of the European Central Bank Observatory in Madrid; member of the Euro 50 Group in Brussels; chairman of the board of the Instituto de Empresa in Madrid; member of the advisory board of CREI at the University Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona; member of the scientific advisory board of the Instituto de Estudios Europeos and of the Instituto Elcano (both in Madrid); and chairman of the steering committee of the advisory board of ESCP-EAP in Paris. He is also a monetary expert to the economic and monetary committee of the European Parliament. He is has written nine books and coauthored another 31 books on economics. He has published more than 90 papers in economic journals and more than 300 articles in newspapers and magazines. He is a regular columnist at leading newspapers.