Career
He succeeded Anne Boquet in the post. Colrat is a graduate of the École normale supérieure (rue d"Ulm), agrégé de lettres classiques, graduate of the Institut d"études politiques de Paris and of the National School of Public Administration (France) (Ecole nationale d'administration). Colrat held the post of chief of staff for the French police commissioner in Réunion, a French overseas department in the Indian Ocean, from 1983 until 1985.
He served as the prefecture secretary general in Réunion beginning in 1992.
Colrat served as the head of civil protection at the Prefecture of the French capital, Paris from April 2001 until February 2004. He served as the Prefect of the Ardennes department from 2004 until 2006.
Colrat later became temporary director of political, administrative and financial affairs at the French Ministry for Overseas Territories for two years from August 2006 until 2008. Colrat was appointed by the Sarkozy government in June 2008.
His predecessor, Anne Boquet, departed French Polynesia on June 29, 2008, after serving three years as the first female High Commissioner.
His welcoming ceremony included traditional Tahitian singers and tamure dancers and a presentation of garlands made from tiare flowers. Adolphe Colrat was sworn in as on Monday, July 7, 2008 when he was 53 years old.