Born in Glasgow, he rose to the top of the national scene by winning the 1946 Amateur Athletic Association junior title in before taking the senior title at the AAA Championships. He was chosen to represent Great Britain at the 1946 European Athletics Championships in August and claimed the silver medal after a personal best jump of, finishing behind Sweden's Anton Bolinder. This made the 18-year-old Paterson the youngest ever medallist at the championships. Adegboyega Adedoyin was the winner at the national championships in 1947, but Paterson set a British record in Glasgow that year with a clearance of – a mark that ranked him third in the world that season and was the best of his career. Paterson was again beaten by a foreigner at the 1948 AAA championships, this time by Australian John Winter. He contested Winter again at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London and the Australian came out on top with the gold medal while Paterson was the home nation's best performer in seventh place with. With eight other jumpers achieving the same height, his placing was decided on count-back – the first time the rule, which takes into account previous missed heights, was used in Olympic competition. He won his second and third AAA national titles in 1949 and 1950. He reached the top of the continental scene at the 1950 European Athletics Championships, going one better than his previous outing to take the gold medal with a clearance of. He prevented runner-up Arne Åhman from extending Sweden's unbeaten run since 1938 and was the first non-Scandinavian to lift the title. That same year he represented his native Scotland at the 1950 British Empire Games. His Olympic rival John Winter was present and victorious, but Paterson's jump of brought him a share of the silver medal alongside Nigeria's Joshua Majekodunmi. Paterson emigrated to Canada in 1951 and ceased national competition as a result. His final international appearance came at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics at the age of twenty four. He was no longer competitive among the elite at that event and failed to clear, ending his Olympic career with 24th-place finish. Following retirement from athletics, Paterson remained in Canada and died there at the age of seventy in Port Credit, Ontario.
