The son of Derrick Allix Pease and the Hon. Rosemary Portman, his grandfather was Sir Richard Arthur Pease, 2nd Baronet of the Pease Baronets, of Hammersknott. After studying at Eton College and Cambridge University, Jonathan Pease began learning the business of conditioning Thoroughbreds for racing in England under the tutelage of Toby Balding and Clive Brittain. He relocated to the United States where he worked for MacKenzie Miller and in Australia learned under trainer T. J. Smith. In 1976 he went to work for French trainer, François Mathet and in 1979 took up permanent residence in France where he obtained his trainer's licence and set up a public stable at the Chantilly Racecourse.
