Whitten grew up in Mackay, Queensland and is the son of a butcher and a boiler marker.

[1] He worked as a public defender in Brisbane from 1986–88, and then as a clerk for a Queensland District Court judge from 1988 - 1989.

[2] In July 2019 he was appointed to the Supreme Court of Tonga as Lord Chief Justice, replacing Owen Paulsen.

[3] As Chief Justice he presided over the appeal of former Prime Minister Sialeʻataongo Tuʻivakanō against his bribery, money laundering and firearms convictions,[4] and over the electoral petition which saw cabinet minister Sione Sangster Saulala lose his seat following the 2021 Tongan general election.

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