Taylor was born on 13 May 1921 in
Portstewart, Northern Ireland. His parents were Daniel Brumhall Taylor and Anna Martha Taylor ( Rice). He received his education at
Coleraine Academical Institution and
Queen's University Belfast (QUB). From QUB, he graduated BSc (Mech) in 1942, BSc (Elec) in 1943, MSc in 1946, and obtained his PhD in 1948. In 1956, he graduated MA from the
University of Cambridge. Taylor was a member of the
Queen's University Belfast Boat Club. He competed in the
men's eight event at the
1948 Summer Olympics where the team was eliminated in the repechage. His selection to the team was notable as he was the only member from
Northern Ireland; the rest of the team were from the
Republic of Ireland. This helped with the Irish Amateur Rowing Union being accepted as a member by the
International Rowing Federation (FISA) in September 1948 and ensured that rowing was represented as part of
Ireland's inaugural Olympic team; many sports missed out over the dispute by rival Irish sports governing bodies. After completing his PhD, he taught in engineering at the
University of Liverpool (1948–1950) and the
University of Nottingham (1950–1953). He then went to the University of Cambridge where he was an ICI
Fellow (1953–1956), a lecturer in mechanical sciences (1956–1968), and Fellow of
Peterhouse (1958–1968). During 1963, he was a visiting lecturer at the
University of Canterbury in
Christchurch, New Zealand. At Peterhouse, he was a coach at the
Peterhouse Boat Club and his 1956 team won the
Lent Bumps. The rowing club's first eight trained in a
shell named
Danny Taylor. After this boat got destroyed, Taylor's widow launched a coxed four shell in April 2006 that was to bear her late husband's name. ==Life in New Zealand==