Robert Gordon was born 9 February 1952, the son of Major Cyril Vivian Eagleson, MC, RE and Clara Renata Romana Gordon (née Duse). He was educated at King’s School, Canterbury, and Magdalen Coll.ege, University of Oxford (MA Modern Languages). In 1978, he married Pamela Jane Taylor, having two sons and two daughters.

Gordon's diplomatic career included: Foreign and Commonwealth Office 1973; Second Secretary, Warsaw [Poland], 1975–77; First Secretary, Santiago [Chile], 1978–83; FCO, 1983–87; First Secretary, UK Delegation to OECD, Paris [France], 1987–92; Counsellor and Deputy Head of Mission, Warsaw, 1992–95; Ambassador to Burma (Union of Myanmar), 1995–99; Head, South East Asia Department, FCO, 1999–2003; Ambassador to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 2003–07.