Johannes Hendrik Visser was born on 1 January 1931. He studied at Unisa (BSc), at the University of Potchefstroom (MSc) and in Göttingen, Germany, where he obtained a Dr.sc.agr in 1961.
1971-79: Senior lecturer at the University of Pretoria. He was professor of Botany at the University of Stellenbosch from 1979.