Ian Whitting was born 2 April 1953, the son of Robert Stanley Whitting, ARIBA, and Mary Elizabeth (née Tindall). He was educated at Chichester High School for Boys and in 1986, married Tracy Gallagher, having two daughters.

Whitting joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1972 and his diplomatic career included: Attaché, Moscow [Soviet Union], 1975–76; Third Secretary, Tunis, 1976–79; Press Attaché, Athens [Greece], 1980–83; Eastern European and Soviet Department, FCO, 1983–85; Second Secretary, Moscow, 1985–88; Southern Africa Department, FCO, 1988–90 and joint organiser, NATO Summit, 1990; First Secretary, Dublin [Ireland], 1990–94; Deputy Head of Mission, Abidjan [Côte d'Ivoire], 1994–97; Conference media coordinator, Information Department, 1997-98; Deputy Head, Africa Department (Equatorial), and Secretary of State’s Special Representative for Great Lakes, 1998–2002; Head, EU Department (Bilateral), FCO, 2002–03; Director, EU and Economic Affairs, Athens, 2003–04; Counsellor, Deputy Head of Mission and HM Consul-General, Athens, 2005–08; Ambassador to Iceland, 2008–12; Ambassador to Montenegro, 2013–17; Deputy High Commissioner to Cyprus, 2017–20; Head, Cyprus Settlement Unit, FCDO, 2020-22.