Orville Prescott, in the New York Times, described his Dangerous River as "a modest book which betrays no indication that Mr. Patterson realizes what a remarkable man he is.” It is through his autobiographical writings, a blended mix of history, adventure and vivid description, that we can appreciate this remarkable individual.
He was educated at Rossall School[2] and later attended Oxford University, where he trained for a career at the Bank of England.
Patterson married Marigold Portman in 1929, the same year he sold his homestead and moved to Buck Spring Ranch near Cochrane, Alberta.
In 1945, aggrieved over the opening of a road into the Highwood Valley and the aftermath of a 1936 fire, he sold the ranch and resettled to Victoria, British Columbia.
Over the next twenty-five years he wrote a series of articles for Blackwood's Magazine and The Beaver and five books about his explorations and adventures.