Patrick Howarth was born in England in 1916. He was educated at Rugby and Oxford University where he read Modern Languages. After leaving university he edited the quarterly magazine called the Baltic and Scandinavian Countries. The magazine was funded by the Baltic Institute and received support from the government in Poland.

On the outbreak of the Second World War Howarth joined the British Army. He later moved to the Intelligence Corps and 1941 joined the Special Operations Executive (SOE). In July 1942 he was sent to Cairo before moving on to Jerusalem.

After the war Howarth wrote several books on his work with the SOE including We Die Alone (1955), Special Operations (1955) and Undercover: The Men and Women of the Special Operations Executive (1980).