[6] A protégé of the New Zealand athletics coach Arthur Lydiard, Snell is known for the three Olympic and two Commonwealth Games gold medals he won, and the several world records he set.

Born in Ōpunake, Snell moved with his family to Waikato in 1949 where he attended Te Aroha College and became an all-around sportsman.

In 1955 he became a boarding student at Mount Albert Grammar School in Auckland, where he took up a wide range of team and individual sports, including rugby union, cricket, tennis, badminton, and golf.

[7][8] At age 19, Snell was motivated to concentrate seriously on running by the comments of his future coach, Arthur Lydiard, who told him, "Peter, with the sort of speed you've got, if you do the endurance training, you could be one of our best middle-distance runners.

"[9] During his early career under the tutelage of Lydiard, he started with New Zealand titles and records for 880 yards and the mile, despite being an unusually large and powerful man by typical middle-distance runner standards.

A member of the American College of Sports Medicine, Snell was honoured in 1999 as an Inaugural Inductee, International Scholar, into the Athlete Hall of Fame, University of Rhode Island.

Snell also became a competitive table tennis player including competing in Texas state (finishing in the top 4 in the 75+ age category) and U.S. championship events and also the 2017 World Masters Games in Auckland.

Following his success at the Perth Commonwealth Games in 1962, Snell was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for services in the field of athletics in the 1962 Queen's Birthday Honours.

The two dollar stamp issued by New Zealand Post features a stylised photo of Snell snapping the tape at the finish line of the 800 metres race at the 1960 Olympics in Rome.

The statue is based on a photo of Snell crossing the finish line in the historic race at Wanganui's Cook's Gardens in 1962.

Peter Snell Drive is the location of Bream Bay College in Ruakaka in Te Tai Tokerau Northland.