Andrew Stuart was born on 30 November 1928, the son of the Rt Rev. Cyril Edgar Stuart, Anglican Bishop of Uganda, and Mary Summerhayes. After spending his early years in Uganda, Stuart was educated at Bryanston and Clare College, Cambridge. In 1959 he married Patricia Kelly; they had two sons and one daughter.

After serving in the Royal Navy, (1947-49), Stuart joined the Colonial Administrative Service in Uganda, in 1953, and worked there until retiring from HMOCS as Judicial Adviser in 1965. In the same year he was called to the Bar, Middle Temple, and also entered the Diplomatic Service. Stuart's diplomatic career from 1965 included: 1st Secretary and Head of Chancery, Helsinki [Finland], (1968); Assistant, South Asian Department, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, (1971); Head of Hong Kong and Indian Ocean Department, FCO, (1972-75); Counsellor, Jakarta [Indonesia], (1975-78); British Resident Commissioner, New Hebrides [Vanuatu], (1978-80); Ambassador to Finland, (1980-83). Following retirement from the Diplomatic Service, Stuart took the positions of Principal, United World College of the Atlantic, (1983-90) and Consultant to Voluntary Service Overseas, (1990-96). Stuart died on 27 January 2014.

In 2002 he published an account of his work for the Colonial Service and also his time in the New Hebrides, "Cargoes, Colonies and Kings".