Peter A. Hellyer (1947-2023) was born in London, England on 9 November 1947, the son of Arthur and Grace (Bolt) Hellyer. His parents, a horticultural journalist and a teacher, raised him and his two siblings in rural Sussex. After education at Oundle School, Northamptonshire, he attended the University of Sussex, graduating with a bachelor's degree in International Relations from that university's School of African and Asian Studies in 1968. For much of the next decade, he worked as a journalist, broadcaster, and documentary filmmaker, initially based in London. He was also politically active, campaigning for Liberal party candidates in the United Kingdom, as well as participating in the movements against apartheid in Southern Africa and in support of the rights of Palestinians.

During that period, he made his first trip to the Middle East in 1969, and his first visit to Abu Dhabi in 1975, when he accepted an assignment from the joint-venture film company, UPITN (owned by the British television network ITN and the United Press International press agency), to film the official foreign visits of the founding ruler of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan. His first project was to work on a documentary film about the state visit of Sheikh Zayed to France in July 1975. Hellyer later accompanied the ruler on trips to Iran, Egypt, Yemen, and Sri Lanka, among other countries, and also filmed footage of the rapidly growing city of Abu Dhabi. Following that, he was asked by the UAE Ministry of Information and Culture to direct the foreign language services of the government-run Abu Dhabi Radio, as well as the newly-developed FM radio service, Capitol Radio. In 1979 he also helped launch the English-language service of the Emirates Press Agency, also known by its Arabic initialism of WAM, working closely alongside the Agency's founding director, Ibrahim al-Abed. He remained in this position until 1982, when he returned to London, where he continued to work frequently with government officials and other individuals from the UAE. During this period, he also took part in an official visit to the UAE by a delegation from the Liberal Party, which included a meeting with Sheikh Zayed.

In 1985, the Ministry of Information and Culture offered Hellyer the position of managing editor of the first English-language daily newspaper in the UAE, the Emirates News, and he returned to Abu Dhabi to assume that position in February of that year, remaining in that role for the duration of that newspaper's existence, until January 1999.

During the 1980s, Hellyer's interests in natural history and archaeology led him to become increasingly active in groups such as the Emirates Natural History Group, in which he served as chairman from 1989-1992, and the Emirates Bird Records Committee, which sought to document all bird species observed in the UAE. In 1992 he was called to serve as Executive Director of the Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey, or ADIAS, established by Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan and under the patronage of his son, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan (who in 2022 became the ruler of the UAE). With the rapid development of many locations throughout the emirate of Abu Dhabi, whether through expansion of the transportation infrastructure or the development of sites for the drilling of petroleum, it became apparent that more work needed to be done to identify and survey potential archaeological sites before they were permanently lost. Hellyer supervised and coordinated dozens of such surveys, work that continued after the cessation of ADIAS in 2006 as well, and extending to other emirates, in particular Fujairah and Umm al Qawain. Between 2009 and 2012, Hellyer served as Project Director of the excavation of a pre-Islamic Christian monastery at Sir Bani Yas island, which had initially been discovered as part of an ADIAS survey in 1995, for the Tourist Development and Investment Company of Abu Dhabi.

From 1999 to 2004 Hellyer served as Advisor for Media, Environment and Heritage for the Ministry of Information and Culture, and following that he assumed the role of Advisor for External Communications for the National Media Council. Following the closing of the Council in 2021, he transferred to the Ministry of Culture and Youth, where he continued to work as an Advisor.

He authored or edited numerous books on the social, cultural, and natural history of the United Arab Emirates, and from 2008 until 2022 was a regular columnist for the Abu Dhabi-based English-language daily newspaper, The National. Maintaining a second home on the island of Jersey, in the Channel Islands, Hellyer was recognized for his work in building relations between the U.A.E. and the island of Jersey, and was awarded the Silver Seal by the Bailiwick of Jersey in 2012.

In 2010, Hellyer was given citizenship in the UAE by the then-President, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan, in recognition for his contributions to the state. He was also awarded the Abu Dhabi Medal in 2013.

Peter Hellyer died in Abu Dhabi on 2 July 2023.

Sources:

https://www.gatewaytouae.com/peter-hellyer [accessed June 2022]

Daniel, Kavitha. "Future Perfect." Gulf News, Nov. 22, 2002 [accessed online in July 2022]