[1] He was a former Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture, Food, Co-operatives and Fisheries in 1964 Member of Parliament for Balangoda, Chairman of the State Plantations Corporation and the Sri Lanka Tea Board.

Ratwatte was born on 19 March 1927 in Balangoda, one of six children to Barnes Ratwatte Dissawa (later a member of the State Council of Ceylon and the Senate of Ceylon) and Rosalind Mahawelatenne Kumarihamy , daughter of Mahawalatenne Rate Mahatmaya of Balangoda.

His eldest sister was Sirimavo Bandaranaike, who was the 7th Prime Minister of Ceylon and the modern world's first female head of government.

[3] He married a distant cosine, Mallika Ellawala and began his career as a tea planter in Balangoda.

His son Kamal Ratwatte, served as the Chairman, Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment; Deputy Chairman, Airport & Aviation Services and Basnayake Nilame[5] (Lay Custodian) of the Sabaragamuwa Maha Saman Devalaya in Ratnapura.