Sir John Ridley Pattison was brought up in County Durham, and educated at Barnard Castle School. From there he progressed to the University of Oxford, taking both a BA and BSc at University College, before joining the Middlesex Medical School.

In 1975 he was appointed Senior Lecturer in Virology at London Hospital Medical College at St Bartholomew's Medical School, leaving in 1977 to become Professor of medical Microbiology at King's College Hospital Medical School. He held this post until 1984 when he became Professor of Medical Microbiology at University College London Medical School, before becoming Dean of the School (1990-1996), and later Vice-Provost (1994-1999).