Former British Cycling Performance Director Peter Keen will be joining UK Sport as Performance Adviser from the beginning of April 2004.
He leaves GlaxoSmithKline where he was the founding Performance Director of its Lucozade Sport Science Academy in April 2003.
The 39 year-old was instrumental in creating the Lottery funded World Class Performance Programme for British Cycling which saw the GB team move from 13th to fourth in the world rankings between 1998 and 2002.
The former coach to Olympic champion and world record holder Chris Boardman said he was looking forward to joining UK Sport at such an exciting time for British sport.
He said: "I have a particularly good relationship with other Performance Directors and insight into the World Class Performance Programmes in general so I hope to add more value to the programmes at a time when the London Olympic bid is well underway and the Athens Olympics are just around the corner.
"There were a number of contributory factors in my decision. I have known Sue Campbell for many years for example and she is someone I hold in high regard. Her position as Chair of UK Sport was a very significant factor for me.
"I wanted to apply my knowledge of the technical areas of sport such as physiology, nutrition, coaching and athlete development to the Performance department of UK Sport which gives me the opportunity to work closely with elite sport."
UK Sport’s Acting Chief Executive Liz Nicholl explained the role of Performance Adviser had been identified as a priority for UK Sport following restructuring of the Performance team in late 2003.
"I am delighted Peter is joining us to work alongside Mike Whittingham who joined last November," Nicholl said.
"We are very aware that being at the cutting edge is vital in today’s elite sport environment where the smallest of margins determine victory and we are building a world class team to help make that difference.
"Peter’s appointment will enhance our capacity to support performance staff in Governing Bodies, Institutes, BOA and BPA to deliver a world class support service to athletes improving their chances of winning medals in Athens, Beijing and London in 2012."
UK Sport is currently undertaking a major business planning exercise in preparation for the Beijing Olympiad and a possible London Olympics in 2012.