Ramsbotham was born on 6 November 1934, the son of a
Church of England clergyman, later
Bishop of Wakefield,
John Alexander Ramsbotham, son of Rev. Alexander Ramsbotham. Ramsbotham was educated at
Haileybury and Imperial Service College. He completed his National Service as an acting
lieutenant, and retained a
Territorial Army commission. He then took a history degree at
Corpus Christi College,
Cambridge. On 21 February 1958 he was appointed to a regular army commission as a lieutenant, with seniority from 31 January 1957. He was promoted to
captain on 31 January 1961. He served in
Borneo during the
Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation as an acting
major in the period 24 December 1965 to 23 June 1966, and was
Mentioned in Despatches. He was promoted to substantive major on 31 December 1967, and to
lieutenant-colonel on 30 June 1971. From 11 June 1970 to 20 June 1973 he served as Military Assistant to the
Chief of the General Staff, Sir
Michael Carver. This was a particularly busy time for the British Army;
the Troubles in
Northern Ireland were beginning, and the army's contribution,
Operation Banner, was taking an increasingly large proportion of resources. For his performance in this role, Ramsbotham was appointed an
Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1974
New Year Honours. He later commanded a battalion of the Royal Green Jackets in Northern Ireland from 1974 to 1975. Ramsbotham was elevated to
colonel on 30 June 1976, and
brigadier on 31 December 1978 (with seniority from 30 June 1978). He then served in Northern Ireland, commanding a brigade based in
Belfast, and was appointed
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his service there in the operational honours of 21 October 1980. His career was almost derailed when as the army's director of public relations (a position he held from 1982 to 1984 He was then promoted to
major-general and commanded
3rd Armoured Division for a period prior to 13 March 1987. On 1 January 1987 he was appointed to the honorary position of
Colonel Commandant, 2nd Battalion, Royal Green Jackets, in succession to Sir
Frank Kitson, which he held until 25 July 1992. On 15 April 1987 he was promoted to
lieutenant-general and appointed
Commander UK Field Army and Inspector General of the
Territorial Army. He was appointed a
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the 1987
Queen's Birthday Honours, and a further honorary appointment as Honorary Colonel of the
Officer Training Corps at the
University of Cambridge on 1 July, which he held until 1 May 1993. He stepped down as Commander of the Field Army on 13 August 1990, and received a further honorary appointment as
Aide de Camp General to HM the Queen (ADC Gen) on 3 December 1990, which he held until his retirement from the army. On 27 December 1990 he was appointed
Adjutant-General (AG), with the local rank of
general, and he received substantive promotion to that rank on 24 January 1990 (with seniority from 1 September 1990). This period included the United Kingdom's involvement in the
Gulf War. He was promoted to
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) in the
1993 New Year Honours. He stepped down as AG on 17 May 1993, and retired from the army on 13 July 1993. ==Chief Inspector of Prisons==