Poole was educated at Ampleforth College, and read Classics at Jesus College, Oxford from 1957 to 1962, being elected JCR President in 1960. He was made an honorary Fellow of the College in 1997. After a postgraduate diploma in science at UMIST, he worked in industry for some years before changing to a legal career. He was called to the Bar by Middle Temple in 1968, where he became a bencher in 1992. He played rugby for Oxford University (though missing out on a Blue), London Irish, the Bar and the Northern Circuit.