John Harvey was born in 1918, the son of an English rubber planter in Malaya. Educated at Taunton School and Epsom College in England, Harvey worked in banking until the outbreak of World War 2. He served in the 51st (Highland) Division during World War 2, achieving the rank of Major. Harvey studied medicine at Edinburgh University after the war, and was a general practitioner in Sussex. Married, with four children, in 1988 Harvey was living in Buderim.
