February 12, 2021

Larissa L. Knapp Named Executive Assistant Director of the Human Resources Branch

Director Christopher Wray has named Larissa L. Knapp as the executive assistant director (EAD) of the Human Resources Branch at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Ms. Knapp most recently served as the assistant director of the Security Division.

As EAD, Ms. Knapp oversees the Human Resources, Security, Finance and Facilities, and Training Divisions, as well as the Office of Disciplinary Appeals.

Ms. Knapp began her FBI career in 1997 as a special agent in the New York Field Office, where she investigated criminal computer intrusion and intellectual property matters. In 2003, she transferred to the FBI office on St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, where she worked mostly counterterrorism investigations.

In 2006, Ms. Knapp was promoted and moved to FBI Headquarters and served in several leadership positions at the CIA Counterterrorism Center and in the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division. In 2011, Ms. Knapp was selected as a field supervisor of a counterterrorism squad at the Washington Field Office. She was promoted to the assistant special agent in charge of an intelligence branch at WFO 2014.

Ms. Knapp was promoted in 2016 to section chief of the Counterterrorism Internet Operations Section in the Counterterrorism Division at Headquarters. She led the coordination, support, and oversight of FBI investigations to detect and disrupt cyber terrorist networks and operatives.

In 2017, Ms. Knapp was elevated to deputy assistant director of the Intelligence Operations Branch in the Directorate of Intelligence. She returned to WFO in 2018 as the special agent in charge of the Counterterrorism Division, where she oversaw the crisis response program and led efforts to protect the region from international and domestic terrorism threats.

Ms. Knapp was named assistant director of the Security Division in 2020. As the FBI’s chief security officer, Ms. Knapp was in charge of global security operations, access control, physical security, background investigations, and related programs.

Ms. Knapp earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Union College in New York and a Juris Doctor from Hamline University in Minnesota.