Sir John Eltringham Coulson KCMG (1909–1997) was a British diplomat who was ambassador to Sweden and secretary-general of EFTA.
Coulson was born 13 September 1909. He was educated at Rugby School and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He joined the Diplomatic Service in 1932.[1] He served at Bucharest, Paris, New York and Washington, DC, before being appointed Ambassador to Sweden 1960–1963.[2] He was then Deputy Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign Office 1963–1965, Chief of Administration of HM Diplomatic Service briefly from January to September 1965, and Secretary-General of the European Free Trade Association 1965–1972. He died 15 November 1997.
John Coulson was appointed CMG in the King's Birthday Honours of 1946[3] and knighted KCMG in the Queen's Birthday Honours of 1957.[4] The Swedish government made him a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star.