Brian Barder was born 20 June 1934, the son of Harry and Vivien Barder; he was educated at Sherborne and St Catharine’s College, Cambridge (BA). In 1958 he married Jane Maureen Cornwell.

After serving as 2nd Lieut, 7 Royal Tank Regiment, 1952-54, Barder joined the Colonial Office in 1957, and became Private Secretary to the Permanent Under-Secretary, 1960-61. He then moved to the Diplomatic Service in 1965, and his diplomatic career included: First Secretary, UK Mission to United Nations, 1964-68; Foreign and Commonwealth Office, 1968-70; First Secretary and Press Attaché, Moscow [Soviet Union], 1971-73; Counsellor and Head of Chancery, British High Commission, Canberra [Australia], 1973-77; Canadian National Defence College, Kingston, Ontario [Canada], 1977-78; Head of Central and Southern, later Southern African Department, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, 1978-82; Ambassador to Ethiopia, 1982-86; Ambassador to Poland, 1986-88; High Commissioner to Nigeria, and concurrently Ambassador to Benin, 1988-91; High Commissioner to Australia, 1991-94. Barder died on 19 September 2017.

He was awarded the KCMG in 1992.