Dominic Cole was first elected to the GHS Council in 1997 and served as Chairman from 2002 to 2006 and from 2008 to 2015. He was also Chairman of the National Trust Gardens Advisory Panel from 2008 to 2015. Dominic is a landscape architect and worked for Land Use Consultants for thirty years, setting up his own practice in 2012. He was recognised for his plant knowledge through becoming a Fellow of the Institute of Horticulture, and for design of the Eden Project by the Landscape Institute Peter Youngman Award. He was awarded the OBE for his services to landscape conservation in 2015.