Patrick spent the first 12 years of his life in Kenya, where he was born to a German mother and French father. He went to school in Austria and then read history in Cambridge, where he graduated with an MA honours degree. After military service in the French army, he obtained an MBA from INSEAD in Fontainebleau. He then worked as a management consultant, specialising in business strategy, until he founded his own business, The Daylight Company, in 1988. Currently he is the owner and chair of this company, which specialises in designing and manufacturing ergonomic task lighting for artists, craftsmen, people with sight loss, industry, and health and beauty.