Personal Life
English was born in the small Southland town of Dipton. He was a boarder at St. Patrick's College, Silverstream in Wellington, and was Head Boy. He later gained degrees in commerce at the University of Otago, where he was a resident at Selwyn College and in English literature, at Victoria University of Wellington. After completing his studies, he returned to Dipton to work as a farmer. In 1987, he returned to Wellington to work as a policy analyst in the New Zealand Treasury, returning to Dipton two years later.
He married a GP, Mary, and they now have six children. He is an active Roman Catholic, but considers his religious beliefs personal and separate from politics.
On 7 June 2002, English took part in TV3's Fight For Life, a celebrity boxing fundraiser, in this case for the Yellow Ribbon anti youth-suicide campaign. English took part because of the death of a teenage nephew in 1997, and lost to entertainer Ted Clarke.
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