Russell attended Leeds Central High School[1] and joined the Royal Navy on 1 September 1972.

[2] He was the first commanding officer of the United Kingdom's first Trident missile submarine, HMS Vanguard, after it was launched in 1992.

[3] He attended the Royal College of Defence Studies in 1995 and undertook the Higher Command and Staff Course in 1998.

[1] He led the UK effort to rescue survivors from the sunken Russian submarine Kursk in the Barents Sea in 2000.

[4] After completing the Financial Seminar for Senior Managers at London Business School in May 2002, he joined the Harpur Trust as Chief Executive in 2002.