He attended Manchester Grammar School and then Wadham College, Oxford.
After graduating, he joined the War Office as fast stream Assistant Principal.
He then joined the British Council as a senior diplomat in the field of international affairs, cultural relations and development aid.
His diplomatic appointments divided between Britain (Deputy Controller, Education and Science Division, 1972–1975; Controller of the Finance Division, 1979–1982; RCDS, 1983; Deputy Director General, 1988–1992) and abroad in India (1963–66 and again from 1984–1988), Lebanon (1966–68), Bahrain (1968–1972) and Tehran (1975–1979).
He died on 13 January 2017 at the age of 78 after a short period of ill health.