Dr David Gruen AO was appointed as the Australian Statistician on 11 December 2019. As Agency Head of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), he is accountable for the functions and operations of the ABS. David also serves as Head of the Australian Public Service Data Profession, is a director on the board of e61 a non-partisan economic research institute, and Chair of the Sir Roland Wilson Foundation.

David was previously the Deputy Secretary, Economic and Australia's G20 Sherpa at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Before joining the Department in September 2014, he was Executive Director of the Macroeconomic Group at the Australian Treasury.

David joined the Treasury in January 2003, before which he was the Head of the Economic Research Department at the Reserve Bank of Australia from 1998 to 2002. Before joining the Reserve Bank, David worked as a research scientist in the Research School of Physical Sciences at the Australian National University.

With financial support from a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowship, David was visiting lecturer in the Economics Department and the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University from August 1991 to June 1993. He holds PhD degrees in physiology from Cambridge University, England and in economics from the Australian National University.

David was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (General Division) in 2022 for distinguished service to public administration, economic research, business, and education.