[1] Butler was educated at Blackpool Grammar School, and graduated in economics from Trinity College, Cambridge.
He joined the British oil firm BP in 1977, ultimately becoming group vice president for strategy and policy development from 2002 to 2006.
[2] He is a member of the advisory board of OMFIF – the organisation of Financial Institutions and Sovereign Wealth Funds.
He served as non-executive chairman of the energy technology business Agni Inc from 2008 until February 2009.
[3] He is a vice president of the Hay-on-Wye literary festival and a member and chairman of the executive committee of the Athenaeum.