Geoffrey Gent was raised on a family farm in Norfolk and studied agriculture at the Royal Agricultural College Cirencester. He joined PGRO in 1965 and after 18 years moved to the seeds company Charles Sharpe & Co as Technical Co-ordinator and Director of Progreta Ltd. He rejoined PGRO as Director and Secretary in 1984. He has travelled widely, working in Eastern Europe, the USA , New Zealand and Australia and visiting 8 other countries on pea and bean related activities.He retired from PGRO in 2007.

Upon retirement, Geoffrey was awarded life Fellowship of the National Institute of Agricultural Botany and Visiting Fellowship of the School of Agriculture, Royal Agricultural College.