He attended University College, Oxford and graduated in 1953 with BA and MA degrees in Natural Philosophy (physics), and an honorary doctorate in 1997.

In 1956, Mallinson emigrated to the United States to join AMP Incorporated in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he studied the magnetic properties of ferrites.

In 1962, he moved to the west coast to join Ampex Corporation in Redwood City, California, rising to become the director of the Recording Technology Department.

The department included other major contributors in magnetic recording such as Charles Coleman and Neal Bertram.

[10] In 1984, Mallinson left Ampex to become the founding director of the new Center for Magnetic Recording Research (CMRR)[11][12] at UC San Diego.

From 1998 through 2005, he was a regular visiting professor at Plymouth University, UK,[2] where he collaborated with Hazel Shute and David Wilton.