The following persons have served as British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, previously known as Ceylon. Countries belonging to the Commonwealth of Nations typically exchange High Commissioners rather than Ambassadors. Though there are a few technical differences, they are in practice one and the same office. Since 1965 when the Maldives were granted independence from the United Kingdom, the British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka has doubled as the (non-resident) British High Commissioner to the Maldives (from 1982 to 2016, and since 1 February 2020) and as the British Ambassador to the Maldives (1965 to 1982, and October 2016 to 2020).^[1]

• 1948–1951: Sir Walter Hankinson KCMG OBE MC^[2]
• 1951–1957: Sir Cecil Syers KCMG CVO^[3]
• 1957–1962: Sir Alexander Morley KCMG CBE^[4]
• 1962–1966: Sir Michael Walker GCMG^[5]
• 1966–1969: Sir Stanley Tomlinson KCMG^[6]
• 1969–1972: Sir Angus Mackintosh KCVO CMG^[7]

• 1972–1975: Sir Harold Smedley KCMG MBE^[8]
• 1976–1979: David Aiers CMG^[9]
• 1979–1984: Sir John Nicholas KCVO CMG^[10]
• 1984–1987: John Stewart CMG OBE^[11]
• 1987–1991: David Gladstone CMG^[12]
• 1991–1996: John Field CMG^[13]
• 1996–1999: David Tatham CMG^[14]
• 1999–2002: Linda Duffield CMG^[15]
• 2002–2006: Stephen Evans CMG OBE^[16]
• 2006–2008: Dominick Chilcott CMG^[17]
• 2008–2011: Peter Hayes^[18]
• 2011–2015: John Rankin^[19]
• 2015–2019: James Dauris^[20]

• 2019–present^[update]: Sarah Hulton^[21]