Alec Coles OBE is the chief executive of Western Australian Museum, the State’s museum with branches in Perth, Fremantle, Geraldton, Kalgoorlie and Albany.
Mr Coles was educated at the University of Leicester (BSc), Newcastle University and the University of East Anglia.
He was chief executive of the Northumberland Wildlife Trust, a wildlife conservation charity in North East England, and director of Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums in North East England for eight years.
Mr Coles is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Social Sciences at The University of Western Australia, an executive member of the Council for Australasian Museum Directors and chair of ICOM Australia. He oversaw the $405 million development of WA Museum Boola Bardip.
In 2010, he was awarded an OBE for services to museums.
In 2021, Mr Coles won the Western Australian of the Year's Arts & Culture Award.
