Background
Brook was the son of Frederick Charles Brook, of Bristol, Gloucestershire, and Annie, daughter of Thomas Smith.
Governor of the British Broadcasting Corporation
Brook was the son of Frederick Charles Brook, of Bristol, Gloucestershire, and Annie, daughter of Thomas Smith.
He was educated at Wolverhampton Grammar School and Wadham College, Oxford.
He was Cabinet Secretary between 1947 and 1962 as well as joint permanent secretary to Her Majesty Treasury and head of the Home Civil Service from 1956 to 1962. He was Principal Private Secretary to Sir John Anderson from 1938 to 1942, Deputy Secretary (Civil) to the War Cabinet in 1942, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Reconstruction from 1943 to 1945, Additional Secretary to the Cabinet from 1945 to 1946, and Secretary of the Cabinet from 1947 to 1962. He was also joint permanent secretary to Her Majesty Treasury and head of the Home Civil Service from 1956 to 1962.
On 24 January 1963 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Normanbrook, of Chelsea in the County of London.
Between 1964 and 1967 he was Chairman of the Board of Governors of the British Broadcasting Corporation. He was one of the twelve pall bearers at Sir Winston Churchill"s funeral in 1965.