Palmer frequently suffered in sports politics from decisions of principle. However, he was a natural fighter, always remembering the judo adage: “Knocked down seven times, get up seven times.” His knowledge and ability in discussion repeatedly brought him election or nomination to a series of posts. Although his slightly overbearing and confrontational manner brought him many enemies, most of the reforms that he oversaw benefited sport. As vice-chairman and then, for five years, chairman of the BOA, he led the modernisation of a body, which had previously been a glorified travel agency. In judo, he was responsible for persuading the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to give the sport a regular place on the Games programme from 1972. For many years, he was also general secretary of the General Assembly of International Sports Federations (GAISF), which regularly negotiated with the IOC over the staging of the Games.

Unlike most British sports officials, he was an accomplished linguist, speaking French, Japanese, German and Spanish. He used this facility extensively in an unusual lifestyle, which saw him often have breakfast in his bachelor flat in Chelsea in the early afternoon and then spend the night on the phone to other officials in different time zones.

Palmer had a flamboyant presence. For many years he smoked expensive cigars. He often drove his Rolls-Royce to European countries because he preferred its comfort to flying, although he was a qualified pilot. He was a fine card player and owned two gambling casinos, as well as restaurants. As recreations, he had been a drummer in a jazz band and was an expert skier.

Yet judo remained the constant thread for all his adult life. His interest began at secondary school in Ealing, where he had to pretend to be 16 to be admitted to his local club. After his first practice with a black belt, he was too stiff to put on his socks the next day. During National Service, he taught judo to the Military Police and then went to the British Embassy in Tokyo as a security officer. On night-time duty he played cards, once saying: “I brought the discipline of judo to poker. There were never any arguments. I never allowed any.”

He acquired a squat, immensely powerful physique, weighing 16 stone for a height of 5 ft 8½ in. This meant he was difficult to shift off-balance and it gave him the useful leverage for a savage uchi-mata (inner thigh throw). He captained Britain to three successive victories in the European team championships between 1957 and 1959 and then concentrated on teaching the sport at the Budokwai, the oldest club in Europe, in South Kensington. As Lord Killanin, the former IOC President, once said: “He knows his own sport back to front, which is unusual for an administrator.”

Palmer subsequently became chairman of the British Judo Association and then overhauled the international contest rules, much to the irritation of the Japanese, who had always used their own version. When refereeing the 1964 Olympic heavyweight final in Tokyo, he threatened to disqualify both fighters for passivity. The Japanese were even more put out a year later when he became IJF President, in succession to Risei Kano, grandson of the founder of judo.

Palmer realised that if the sport was to progress it had to shake off the domination of Japan and could only become a regular part of the Olympic programme — in 1964 it was included only at the behest of the host nation — if this occurred. In 1977, Palmer cancelled the world championships in Spain because the Spanish Government refused to give the Taiwan team visas. For this stand against political interference in sport, Palmer paid a price. Two years later, the Spanish, Japanese, French and the Soviet bloc, all of whom bore him grudges, successfuly combined with their allies to unseat him as President.

In the political debate over the Moscow Olympics, caused by the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Palmer stood out against the Government and persuaded Denis Follows, then BOA chairman, that Britain should attend. He then stiffened Follows’s resolve and watched his back as the political pressure mounted. This probably cost Palmer the chairmanship of the Sports Council in 1989. Nor did the IOC reward him. In 1982 he was overlooked as the second IOC member in Britain. Palmer was too strong and ambitious for such a conservative body.

Palmer was elected BOA chairman in 1983 and was British team commandant for a total of five Summer and Winter Games. He lost the chairmanship in 1988. However, Colin Moynihan, then Minister for Sport, showed his support for Palmer by immediately reappointing him as a member of the Sports Council.

In the 1990s his health began to fail. However, he was still able to chair meetings as president of the Budokwai and the British Judo Association. In 1996 he received a 10th dan, the highest grade ever awarded to a non-Japanese.

Despite having many female admirers, he never married.

Charles Palmer, OBE, Chairman of the British Olympic Association, 1983-88, and President of the International Judo Federation, 1965-79, was born on April 15, 1930. He died on August 17, 2001, aged 71.