John Okell, a graduate of The Queen's College, Oxford, was Lecturer in Burmese (Myanmar) at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, until his retirement in 1999. Since then he has undertaken short-term teaching engagements in Thailand, the USA and London, and is active in developing materials for the study of Burmese. Okell is a Research Associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies, and Chairman of the Britain-Burma Society in London. He was awarded the Tuttle Grand Prize for 1996 for his work on Burmese By Ear, and an OBE in 2014.