Mark Overton, FAcSS, is a British agricultural historian and formerly Professor of Economic and Social History at the University of Exeter, where he was Deputy Vice-Chancellor from 2006 to 2013.
Overton completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Exeter, graduating with a degree in economic history and geography.
In 1972, he began his doctoral studies in historical geography at the University of Cambridge; the PhD was awarded in 1981 for his thesis "Agricultural change in Norfolk and Suffolk, 1580–1740."
In 1979, he was appointed to a lectureship in the Department of Geography at Newcastle University, where he was subsequently promoted to Senior Lecturer and Reader.
In 1995, he was appointed Professor of Economic and Social History at the University of Exeter.