After an early career in the colonial service, during which he pioneered the use of psychological warfare against the communist guerrillas in the Malayan jungle and introduced the cattle-drawn plough to The Gambia, Richard Addis, who has died aged 76, spent his retirement perfecting the skill of bearding the rich and famous for charity funds. “I lent your father a top hat for his wedding,” he wrote to one target recently. “How about a donation?”

Ritty Addis, as he was widely known, was born in 1931 in Zanzibar - off the Tanzanian coast - where his father was a district officer. Sent to prep school in the Home Counties he was separated from his parents for six years by the outbreak of the Second World War and was brought up by a grandmother who kept a rusting bicycle in her drinking water in order to combat iron deficiency. He was severely censured by the headmaster of Ashdown House prep school for writing an imaginative letter to his mother in Africa describing the poisoned cakes that German fighters were dropping on the playing fields.

At Rugby, Oxford and during National Service in the Coldstream Guards he was fêted for his good looks and was nicknamed “Heaven” by the contemporary crop of debutantes. He swiftly married the sister of a school-friend, launching a 53-year union that became his mainstay until his death.

The Colonial Office, which he had joined direct from Oxford, sent the newly-weds to Malaya at the height of the struggle against Chinese communism. As a greenhorn district officer, Addis found opportunities to display both the courage and the propensity for letter-writing that became hallmarks of his later life. The former was evident when he refused escorts during a long nocturnal march through hostile territory; the latter when he helped to organise mass leaflet drops across the jungle designed to circumvent the propaganda of insurgent generals and weaken the loyalty of their guerrilla troops.

After Malayan independence he was posted to The Gambia where he demonstrated to groundnut farmers the huge advantages of the cattle-drawn plough over man-hauling and, inspired by the ferry at Bablock Hythe on The Thames, he introduced a wooden pulling-handle for the Gambian ferry-haulers to protect their hands from the wire rope - both innovations that swiftly took root. Dauntless to the point of rash, he startled his African companions on one occasion when, stranded on the wrong side of the crocodile-infested River Gambia, he used breast stroke to traverse 150 yards of murky water.

By devising a system of one-pebble-one-vote dropped into barrels filled with water, Addis tried to encourage democracy in Gambian politics but the difficulty of registering voters who maintained a supremely flexible approach to naming conventions proved overwhelming. In 1963 he wrote a letter to Encounter bearing an outspoken critique of the country's readiness for independence. He was abruptly withdrawn by the Colonial Office.

Addis returned to England where he worked first in the personnel department of Courtaulds and then, until his retirement, as a partner at Tyzack & Co, the headhunters. He took great pleasure in finding people the right career openings and many clients became grateful and lasting contacts. His occasional lack of caution led to him missing out on one coveted career opportunity when he was interviewed for a position as the Princess Royal's private secretary but committed the faux pas of commenting on the silk lining to her trousers. The same streak also led to a worrying spell in hospital when he fell while climbing the limestone cliffs at Lulworth Cove and had to be winched unconscious out of the sea by helicopter.

After retirement Addis flourished for 13 years as a volunteer and fundraiser for several charities. For ten years he served simultaneously on the Samaritans' night-duty roster while working during the day both for Charity Appointments and the Retired and Senior Volunteer Programme, the charity that helps people over 50 volunteer in their communities. Latterly he spent four days a week with RSVP for which he raised over £1 million.

A quintessential Englishman, romantic and permanently irritated by modern contraptions, Addis never neglected his main passions of gardening, poetry and botany and with his wife, Jane, he spent 20 years creating a notable garden in Middle Barton, Oxfordshire. He is survived by his wife and two children.

Richard Addis, colonial officer and charity fundraiser, was born on September 7, 1931. He died on March 3, 2008, aged 76