Christopher Braun was born in 1943 in Birmingham, the younger son of Konrad and Hildburg Braun. After attending Bootham School, York, 1956-1961, he studied Modern History at St. John's College, Cambridge, 1962-1965, and then took up a career in the senior civil service mostly in the Department of the Environment. He retired in 2004. Christopher Braun married Anne-Marie Kelly in 1972.They have a son, Henry (born 1974), and two daughters, Helena (born 1977) and Susan (born 1981). Two granddaughters were born in 2016.