John Butcher was born in Brighton, England and has lived in London since the late 1970s. After classical piano lessons at school, he started playing the saxophone at Surrey University, where he was studying physics.

John Butcher's work ranges through improvisation, his own compositions, multitracked saxophone pieces and explorations with feedback and extreme acoustics. Originally a physicist, he left academia in 1982, and has since collaborated with hundreds of musicians. He is well known as a soloist, sometimes exploring unusual site-specific acoustics, and has released seven CDs of solo saxophone music.