Brian Perry is from a farming family in Norfolk and was educated at Town Close School, Norwich and Wymondham College,[5] Norfolk. He studied veterinary medicine at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Edinburgh and graduated as a veterinary surgeon in 1969. He later completed a Diploma in Tropical Veterinary Medicine (1971), an MSc in Tropical Veterinary Science (1975), and a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery (1987), all at the University of Edinburgh.[6]