Dutson was educated at Cambridge University where he studied veterinary science.
As a veterinarian, Dutson worked in the UK, Ethiopia and South Africa.
Expeditions to Indonesia and the Philippines led to the rediscovery of the Tanahjampea monarch and the Cebu flowerpecker.
Dutson's most recent publishing endeavour is a description of a high altitude observation of the beautiful firetail in East Gippsland, Australia.
Dutson wrote most of the Pacific islands species' accounts in the BirdLife publication Threatened Birds of the World.