[2][3] Potts completed a medical degree and a PhD in embryology (on the electron microscopy of mammalian implantation) at the University of Cambridge.
He then moved to the United States and became CEO of Family Health International (FHI) from 1978 to 1990.
During this period, FHI became the largest global AIDS prevention programme outside of the World Health Organization.
His books include Abortion (co-written with Peter Diggory and John Peel, 1977), Textbook of Contraceptive Practice (1st edition co-written with John Peel, 1969; 2nd edition co-written with Peter Diggory, 1983; long the key textbook in the field), Queen Victoria's Gene (written with his brother Prof. William Potts), Ever since Adam and Eve: The Evolution of Human Sexuality (written with Dr Roger Short, 1999)[5][6][7] and Sex and War: How Biology Explains Warfare and Terrorism and Offers a Path to a Safer World (co-written with Thomas Hayden, 2008).
[8][9] He has worked as a consultant to the World Bank and the British, American, Canadian and Egyptian governments.