One of the sons of the Conservative politician Rab Butler, by his marriage to Sydney Elizabeth Courtauld, daughter and co-heiress of Samuel Courtauld, the young Butler was educated at Eton College and Pembroke College, Cambridge, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Royal Horse Guards.
[2] He was an active member of the National Farmers' Union of England and Wales, joining its council in 1962.
[4] After retiring from the NFU for a year, Butler was president of COPA, the union of European farmers, and also took on business directorships.
[2] In the City of London, he became a director of County Natwest Investment Management and served as chairman from 1989 to 1996.
They had a daughter, Antonia Mary (1954), and twin sons, Richard Michael and Christopher Patrick (1956).