Risk represents the unknown future: an intangible commodity. Public risk may affect any part of society and government is expected to respond, implying a need for governance and accountability. Public risk governance though is complicated by the multiplicity of different stakeholders and the network of interactions. We explore public risk governance through the actors involved in public risk governance and accountability. Through synthesis of the related and theoretically consistent concepts of governance, stakeholder theory and social network theory we develop the concept and underlying principles of ‘knowledgeable supervision’ as a means of public risk governance.