Dr T. P. Hardiman holds directorships in industry, commerce and finance. He joined the Irish telecommunications service following his graduation in Engineering and in Science from University College Dublin in the fifties and later joined the broadcasting services as an Operations Manager. His subsequent work in the radio and television broadcasting services included a variety of responsibilities in programme management and financial affairs before his appointment as Director General, a position he held for seven years. Since the late seventies he has been active in commercial, industrial and scientific life in Ireland and internationally.
He was founding Chairman of the National Board for Science and Technology, the principal Science Advisor to the Government, and he was a member of CERD, the EC Advisory committee for Research and Development. He served on various policy enquiries, including the Telecommunications Review Group and he was Chairman of the Commission on Technological Education.
He has been President of the Confederation of Irish Industry, President of the Marketing Institute of Ireland, President of Dublin Chamber of Commerce, and President of the International Institute of Communications. He has been Chairman of the Industrial Affairs Committee and Chairman of the External Relations Committee of UNICE in Brussels and Chairman of the Irish Institute for European Affairs in Leuven, Belgium..
He is currently a member of the ASEF Board of Governors, Singapore, a Supervisory Board Member of the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Co-operation, Tokyo;and a member of the EU Japan Business Dialogue Round Table, Brussels/Tokyo.
He is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Chester Beatty Library and Gallery of Oriental Art, Dublin Castle.
He is a Fellow of the Irish Academy of Engineering,, Fellow of the Institution of Engineers in Ireland, Fellow of the Irish Management Institute and Fellow of the Marketing Institute of Ireland.
He was elected a member of the Royal Irish Academy in November 1980 and he was decorated with the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star, by the Emperor of Japan in April 1986. He was conferred LL.D. by the National University of Ireland in April 1990 and D. Litt. by Lynn University in October 1995.