He gained his diploma of physical education from the University of Otago and completed a diploma of teaching in Christchurch in 1980.
He expected to teach physical education at a secondary school after gaining his teaching diploma, but ended up becoming professor of physiology at Oxford University.
"They had trained too many teachers and there were not any jobs," he said. "We had to retrain and do something else."
When Paterson (53) lived in Dunedin, the Oxford he knew was in North Canterbury. He had no aspirations of getting to the great university.
"But one door opened after another as I did more studies. I had a lot of perseverance and seized the opportunities when they came along," he said.
His big opportunity came when he studied at the University of Western Australia and gained a scholarship to Oxford.
He then won the Rolleston Prize - for the best bio-medical thesis at Oxford and Cambridge - for his PhD thesis.
"That one prize lifted me up and doors opened and I got a junior research scholarship at Christchurch College, in Oxford," he said.
He has since received over 9 million in research funding at Oxford University.
When Paterson was at Otago Boys' High School from 1973 to 1976, he was just an average pupil and spent most of his time concentrating on sport.
"I was no scholar at school or during my time at Otago University," he said.
"The good thing was having a liberal education at Phys Ed School."
Paterson was coached by Lin Rayner and was one of Otago's most promising sprinters. He was a member of the New Zealand junior team and had a best 400m time of 49.10sec.
While in Dunedin for his induction to the School of Physical Education's Wall of Fame, Paterson visited the Caledonian Ground. He was impressed.
"When I was here, we competed at a Spartan environment at the old Caledonian Ground near the gas works," he said.
"It was a very fast track when the sun was out but it was also windy and a vicious track to run on. The new track at Logan Park is in a fantastic venue."
Since becoming a fellow of Merton College at Oxford, Paterson has had a close association with Roger Bannister, who was the first athlete to break four minutes for the mile.
"He used to run on the physiology department treadmill as part of his training," Paterson said. "He is an honorary fellow of Merton College and I see him at social events.
"Roger is aware of the lineage of New Zealand middle-distance running from Jack Lovelock's time - Lovelock was a Rhodes scholar at Oxford."
Paterson keeps in touch with some of the world's former elite athletes as he travels to conferences around the world.
"I had dinner with Peter Snell two weeks ago in Dallas," he said.
Paterson said high-intensity exercise was not for everyone, as it could cause a huge stress on the heart.
"If you're athletically trained you can cope, but if you are a member of the public and not well trained, it can be quite dangerous," he said. "It puts a massive chemical stress on the myocardial system."
Paterson's recommendation to the public is to ease into any physical activity and not go like a bull at a gate.
"The key thing is to do a lot of modest movement and then build that up. That is especially the case for people over the age of 40," he said.
"They should be careful because high-intensity exercise puts enormous pressure on the arteries of the body, especially leading to the heart and the brain.
"Very highly intense exercise in this age group is a risk factor, but mild continuous aerobic exercise is very good."
These are the principles that Arthur Lydiard espoused in his training programmes for elite athletes and for joggers.
"Lydiard was ahead of his time," Paterson said.
Prof David Paterson
At a glance
Age: 53.
Education: OBHS, University of Otago School of Physical Education (Dip PhEd 1979), Christchurch Teachers College (DipTeach 1980), University of Western Australia (MSc 1985, DSc 2005), Oxford University (MA, DPhil 1989).
Occupation: Professor of physiology at Oxford University, co-head of medical sciences division.
Additional: Editor-in-chief of The Journal of Physiology.
Honours: Fellow Institute Biology (2003), Royal Society Medicine (2005), honorary professorships at Melbourne and Auckland universities.
Sport: NZ junior athletics representative 1977.
