Clive Rose was born 15 September 1921, son of the Right Reverend Alfred Carey Wollaston Rose and Lois Juliet (née Garton). He was educated at Marlborough College, and Christ Church College, Oxford (MA); in 1946 he married Elisabeth Mackenzie, daughter of Reverend Cyril Lewis, Gilston; they had two sons and three daughters.

During the war, Rose served as a Major in the Rifle Brigade, (1941-46), serving in Europe, (1944-45), India, (1945) and Iraq, (1945-46). His diplomatic career began when he joined the Commonwealth Relations Office in 1948, and included: Office of the Deputy High Commissioner, Madras, (1948-49); Foreign Office, (1950-53); UK High Commission, Germany, (1953-54); British Embassy, Bonn, (1955); FO, (1956-59); 1st Secretary and Consul, Montevideo [Uruguay], (1959-62); FO, (1962-65); Commercial Counsellor, Paris [France], (1965-67); Imperial Defence College, (1968); Counsellor, British Embassy, Washington [United States], (1969-71); Assistant Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, (1971-73); Head, British Delegation to Negotiations on Mutual Reduction of Forces and Armaments and Associated Measures in Central Europe, Vienna [Austria], (1973-76); Deputy Secretary, Cabinet Office, (1976-79); UK Permanent Representative on North Atlantic Council, (1979-82). Rose died on 17 April 2019.