He lectured at Bedford College, rising to become Professor of Aegean Archaeology, and then lectured at University College London as Yates Professor of Classical Art and Archaeology.
[1] Sir John Coldstream, his father, was serving in the British colony as a High Court Judge.
[7] He then worked for one year as a temporary assistant keeper at the department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum.
[8] In 1983, he moved to University College London and became Yates Professor of Classical Art and Archaeology.
[4] In addition to his university work, he was involved in the running of the British School at Athens.
[4] He married his wife Nicola, a leading scholar of medieval architecture and art, in 1970.
[11] In his obituary, The Times called Coldstream "one of the world's leading Classical archaeologists".