King studied at King's College, Cambridge, and Harvard, then taught at the University of Cambridge and the University of Birmingham. He's also been Visiting Professor to Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. From October 1984 he was Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics.
King was joined the Bank in March 1991 as Chief Economist and Executive Director, having been a non-executive director from 1990 to 1991. He was appointed Deputy Governor in 1997, taking up his post June 1 1998.