Nick Patterson is a computational biologist at the Broad Institute. A collaborator with David Reich for nearly 20 years, Nick has traversed the world of genetics from its medical domain to the realm of anthropology and ancient DNA. But before he was a geneticist Nick had varied lives, including a stint with the British government, as a cryptographer, and a quant for Renaissance Technologies. We also discuss his background in dark post-World War II England, and how it shaped him.