Mr King will leave the board of BHP at the end of August, just six months after joining it, having decided not to stand for election at this year's meetings after a backlash from some investors.

BHP announced the decision on Wednesday as it revealed an extensive board reshuffle which includes the pending departure of former Shell executive Malcolm Brinded and the addition of two new independent directors.

Mr King is the president of the Business Council of Australia and was managing director of Origin Energy from 2000 until last November. Some investors had criticised his membership of the BHP board given Origin's recent performance, which was marred by a series of significant impairments on the company's LNG export project.

"Owing to concerns expressed by some investors, Grant King has decided that he will not stand for election," the company said in a statement.

BHP chairman Jac Nasser thanked Mr King for his contribution to BHP, saying he brought valuable skills to the board.

"His experience managing through challenging industry dynamics and a complex regulatory environment, as well as his deep understanding of oil and gas, were beneficial in board discussions, and will be missed. I wish Grant the very best for the future," Mr Nasser said.

Fairfax Media attempted to contact Mr King on Wednesday via the BCA and BHP, without success.

In the statement BHP also revealed that Mr Brinded wouldn't stand for re-election to the board. BHP said his decision to leave came from "his involvement in ongoing legal proceedings in Italy relating to his prior employment with Shell".

BHP's board changes were welcomed by Andrew Preston from Aberdeen Standard Investments, a substantial investor in BHP.

"We would view those really quite positively," he told Fairfax Media.

The election of BHP chairman-elect Ken MacKenzie, combined with the changes announced on Wednesday, appeared to be "a change in the guard" on the board, he said.

"It's a company which has massive operations in a diverse series of theatres, and over time, I think you need to refresh the people who are looking at this vast number of businesses in order to make sure that you're keeping in touch with changes, with a coherent strategy going forward," he said.

"And the habit of companies over time is to do what we did last year and just to continue it on. And I think the change to the new chairman, and now the appointments announced today, are a genuine signal that there's change from the top in the company, and I think that's going to be very well received."

"The investment community was very down on Grant King, given the performance of Origin. I don't think he had many choices other than to walk away, given the pressure that was on him from the fund managers and investment bankers," a former senior mining industry executive said of Mr King's departure.

Senior analyst at Shaw and Partners, Peter O'Connor, said he expected "more rejuvenation" of BHP's board over the next two to three years.

"We would expect a near complete rejuvenation over this time," he said, in a report released in the wake of BHP's full-year results.

Mr O'Connor said the incoming chairman had conducted about 137 meetings with investors over the past couple of months on a so-called "listening tour", and it seemed the global investment community was "warming to the opportunity" created by his appointment.

The New York-based activist investor Elliott Management, which has been campaigning for an overhaul of BHP, did not comment on BHP's board changes.

In addition to the director departures, BHP announced the appointment of two new independent non-executive directors from October 1 - Terry Bowen and John Mogford.

Mr Bowen has been the finance director of Wesfarmers for the past eight years, while Mr Mogford's 33-year career at BP gave him "deep experience across the oil and gas business, working in the areas of exploration, downstream, upstream, safety and technology", BHP said.