Robin Renwick was born 13 December 1937, the son of Richard Renwick, of Edinburgh [Midlothian, Scotland], and Clarice (née Henderson); he was educated at St Paul’s School and Jesus College, Cambridge (Honorary Fellow, 1992) and the University of Paris (Sorbonne). In 1965 he married Annie Colette Giudicelli.

Renwick entered the Foreign Service in 1963 and his diplomatic career included: Dakar [Senegal], 1963-64; Foreign Office, 1964-66; New Delhi [India], 1966-69; Private Secretary to Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, 1970-72; First Secretary, Paris [France], 1972-76; Counsellor, Cabinet Office, 1976-78; Rhodesia Department, FCO, 1978-80; Political Adviser to Governor of Rhodesia [later Zambia and Zimbabwe], 1980; Visiting Fellow, Center for International Affairs, Harvard, 1980-81; Head of Chancery, Washington [United States], 1981-84; Assistant Under Secretary of State, FCO, 1984-87; Ambassador to South Africa, 1987-91; Ambassador to Washington, 1991-95.

He was awarded the KCMG in 1989 (CMG 1980) and received a life peerage in 1997.