Sir John Jones (1923–98) was a former officer in the Royal Artillery and served as a civil servant in the pre-independence Government of Sudan, working for the Sudanese Ministry of Education. He joined the Security Service in 1955.

He became Deputy Director General in 1976 under Sir Michael Hanley. Although he was passed over in favour of Sir Howard Smith in 1978 and remained in his post as DDG, he succeeded Sir Howard as Director General in 1981.

In 1983, he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) by HM The Queen. He retired from the Service in March 1985.