Allan studied politics and government at UBC, the LSE, McGill (PhD 1996) and Harvard. In his early career, he conducted research and international technical assistance on financial crime with the International Centre, subsequently joining the RCMP in 1999 as a money-laundering subject-matter expert. He assumed leadership of RCMP Pacific Region Criminal Analysis in 2001, leading significant changes to and growing the function provincially and nationally, and later leading the RCMP’s Crime Reduction strategy. For this body of work, he received a Commissioner’s Commendation and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medal. On leaving the force, from 2011-2016 Allan was executive lead of the Justice and Public Safety Secretariat for BC’s justice ministries, authoring the 2012 Green and White Papers on justice reform. During this time he co-developed the BC Justice Summit process, which he continues to support, as well as coordinating the annual National Criminal Justice Symposium on behalf of Justice Canada. Allan rejoined ICCLR in 2016; his recent projects have focused on Indigenous justice, lobbying regulation, corruption, and criminal restitution. He and his family live in Victoria.