The stepson of British author John Masters, Rose was educated at Cheltenham College, St. Edmund Hall, Oxford, and the Sorbonne.

[7] On graduation from university, having gained a Bachelor of Arts degree, Rose joined the Regular Army Coldstream Guards as a second lieutenant on 22 October 1964.

[15] Rose commanded Special Service operations in-theatre during the Falklands War, following which he was promoted to colonel on 30 June 1982,[16] and Mentioned in Despatches.

[17] He conducted negotiations with the Argentine forces to arrange their surrender deploying some of the skills that he had learnt from the Iranian Embassy siege.

[32] On 14 March 1995 Rose resumed his appointment as Commander UK Field Army,[33] and on 10 May 1995 became Honorary Colonel of the Oxford University Officer Training Corps.

[38] On 10 March 2000 his tenure as Honorary Colonel of the Oxford University Officer Training Corps came to a conclusion, and he was succeeded by General Sir Roger Wheeler.

[42] In 2006 Rose came once again to public attention when he criticised the UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, and called for his impeachment for leading the country to war in Iraq under false pretences.