John Birch was born on 24 May 1935, son of C. Allan Birch. He was educated at Leighton Park School, and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. In 1960 he married Primula Haselden; they have three sons and one daughter.

After his National Service with the Middlesex Regiment (1954-56), Birch joined the Foreign Service in 1959, and his career included: Paris [France] (1960-63); Singapore (1963-64); Bucharest [Romania] (1965-68); Geneva [Switzerland] (1968-70); Kabul [Afghanistan] (1973-76); Royal College of Defence Studies (1977); Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Negotiations, Geneva (1977-80); Counsellor, Budapest [Hungary] (1980-83); Head of East European Department, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (1983-86); Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative to United Nations, New York [United States] (1986-89); Ambassador to Hungary (1989-95). He died on 6 May 2020.