Alex Thier is the Executive Director of the Overseas Development Institute (ODI). Prior to joining the ODI, he worked for Triple Helix, a US-based consultancy firm which he founded to increase access to off-grid, renewable energy in Africa and Asia.

He held Senior roles at the US Agency for International Development (USAID), as well as positions in the United Nations (UN), Stanford University and several NGOs, and began his career as a humanitarian aid worker with the UN and Oxfam.

Alex Thier holds a Bachelor degree from Brown University, a Masters degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and a Juris Doctor degree from Stanford Law School.