Overton completed his undergraduate studies at the
University of Exeter, graduating with a degree in economic history and geography. In 1972, he began his doctoral studies in historical geography at the
University of Cambridge; the PhD was awarded in 1981 for his thesis "Agricultural change in Norfolk and Suffolk, 1580–1740." He was appointed an assistant lecturer at Cambridge in 1974 and then a Fellow at
Emmanuel College. In 1979, he was appointed to a lectureship in the Department of Geography at
Newcastle University, where he was subsequently promoted to Senior Lecturer and Reader. In 1995, he was appointed Professor of Economic and Social History at the University of Exeter. He also served as Dean of Postgraduate Studies at Exeter from 1998 to 2001, and was Deputy Vice-Chancellor from 2006 to 2013, when he became Dean of Taught Programmes. He had retired from Exeter by 2016. Overton was a long-serving Treasurer of the
Agricultural History Society, of which he was also President from 2013 to 2016. == Honours ==