John Britten was born on the 1st August 1950 from Bruce and Ruvae Britten in Christchurch, New Zealand. Being dyslexic, it stopped him from doing things a normal child would do; and at school he needed teachers to read him the answers for him to understand them in an exam, and the answers put on a sound tape.
His childhood heroes were notable fellow New Zealanders, Richard Pearse (pioneer aviator), Bill Hamilton (father of the jet boat), Bruce McLaren (champion driver and founder of the McLaren Formula One Team), and Burt Munro (world record motorcycle speedster and subject of the film The World's Fastest Indian).
Britten completed a four-year mechanical engineering course at night school before joining ICI as a cadet draughtsman,