Sir Peter Cresswell went to St John's School in Leatherhead, then studied law at Queen's College, Cambridge. He was called to the Bar by Gray's Inn in 1966, and practised primarily in banking and financial services. He was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1983, and was a Recorder from 1986 to 1981. He was Chairman of the Common Law & Commercial Bar Association from 1985 to 1987, and of the General Council of the Bar in 1990. He became a Queen's Bench Judge in 1991, was nominated to sit in the Commercial Court, and was Judge in Charge from 1993 to 1994. After retiring from the English Bench in 2008, he sat as a Judge in the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands and of the Qatar International Court. He practises as a commercial mediator and arbitrator, and is an editor of 'The Encyclopedia of Banking Law'.

Sir Peter's pastimes include fly-fishing and the management and conservation of inland waterways.