The son of William Harvey, a barrister, and his wife Evelyn, née De la Cour, Harvey was born on Christmas Day 1910 in Kirkwall. He was educated at Cargilfield, Edinburgh and Rugby, before winning a county scholarship to St Thomas's Hospital. After qualifying he did junior jobs in Winchester before joining the RAMC in 1943, serving until the end of the second world war and reaching the rank of major. On demobilisation he held junior posts in Colchester before returning to St Thomas's to specialise in ENT as registrar and senior registrar. He was a keen golfer and enjoyed gardening and building. He was married three times, and when he died on 23 August 1992 was survived by five sons and two daughters, one of whom is a physiotherapist.