Persse was born of an Anglo-Irish family, and grew up on a cattle station in the Brisbane Valley. He was educated at home, at Toowoomba Prep., The King's School, Parramatta, and Balliol College, Oxford. In 1955 he became a teacher at Geelong Grammar School, and taught there for over 50 years, later becoming the school archivist. In 2005 the school's archives was named the Michael Collins Persse Archives Centre.
Persse has written several books, most of them historical. They include historical studies of Geelong Grammar School and a biography of his forebear, De Burgh Fitzpatrick Persse.
