The Ian Potter Foundation, which he established in 1964, has made grants to research institutes, charities, universities and arts organisations.

In 1933, Potter began an eighteen-month period as a Treasury economist in Canberra providing him with an intimate knowledge of government finance.

Enlisting on 17 August 1942, Potter trained as a Royal Australian Navy Volunteer Reserve (RANVR) cadet.

He was commissioned as a Staff Skipper with substantive rank of Sub Lieutenant on 8 May 1944, and stationed at HMAS Lonsdale, Port Melbourne, until his discharge on 31 May 1946.

In 1949, King George VI approved warrants for the award by the Royal Navy of the Blue Ensign (Defaced) to the Little Ship Club, and to Potter's HMAS Nordecia as well as the San Vittoria and Mauranne, for service during the war.

Potter's vision was to support youth, and as of 2022 the foundation awards over A$20 million in grants annually, across a range of sectors.

In October 1992 the Ian Potter Cultural Trust was established, specifically to give grants to individual artists.

He divorced his first wife in 1941 and on 2 July 1942 he married Gwenyth Winifred Izzard, an amateur actress, at the Cairns Memorial Presbyterian Church in East Melbourne.