Adrian Sindall was born in October 1937, son of Stephen Sindall and Clare Mallet; he was educated at Battersea Grammar School, and was married (1st) in 1958, having one son and one daughter, and (2nd), in 1978, to Jill Margaret Cowley.

He joined the Foreign Office in 1956, and his diplomatic career included the following: Foreign Office, 1956-58; Middle East Centre for Arab Studies, 1958-60; Third Secretary (Commercial), Baghdad [Iraq], 1960-62; Second Secretary, Rabat [Morocco], 1962-67; First Secretary, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, 1967-70 (Near East and North Africa Department, then desk officer for Libya); First Secretary, Beirut [Lebanon], 1970-72; First Secretary and Head of Chancery, Lima [Peru], 1972-76; Assistant Head of Latin America Department, FCO, 1976-79; Counsellor, Head of Chancery and Consul-General, Amman [Jordan], 1979-82; Head of South America Department, FCO, 1982-85; Consul-General, Sydney [Australia], 1985-88; Middle East Marketing Director, Defence Export Services Organisation, Ministry of Defence, on secondment, 1988-91; High Commissioner, Brunei, 1991-94; Ambassador to Syria, 1994-96.