Dysart is the son of Lt Col John Peter Grant, MBE 16th of Rothiemurchus, and his wife Lady Katherine, née Greaves.
Dysart was appointed a deputy lieutenant of Inverness-shire in 1986,[2] and succeeded his father as 'of Rothiemurchus', in the Cairngorms, in 1987.
He has held office in a number of co-operative, land management, nature and conservation organisations since 1975 and was President of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland from 1996[3] to 2006.
She also had a long and close involvement with rural development in the North of Scotland, particularly through community action.
The character Molly in the BBC series Monarch of the Glen was based on the countess.