Eden was the son of Sir Timothy Calvert Eden and Edith Mary Prendergast. He was educated at Eton College and St Paul's School, New Hampshire, in the US. He served as a Lieutenant with the Rifle Brigade, 2nd Gurkha Rifles and the Gilgit Scouts during the Second World War. He was a nephew of Sir Anthony Eden (1897–1977), who served as prime minister from 1955 to 1957, and he succeeded his father Sir Timothy Calvert Eden to his baronetcies in 1963. He was the 9th Baronet of West Auckland and the 7th Baronet of Maryland.

After unsuccessfully contesting the 1953 Paddington North by-election, Eden was first elected as a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Bournemouth West at the 1954 Bournemouth West by-election, which he would continue to represent from 1954 until 1983. When first elected, he was the Baby of the House, the youngest member of the House of Commons. He was appointed to the Privy Council on 10 April 1972 and was created a life peer as Baron Eden of Winton, of Rushyford in the County of Durham on 3 October 1983,^[5] following his retirement from the House of Commons. He retired from the House of Lords on 11 June 2015 under the provisions of the House of Lords Reform Act 2014.^[6] Following the death of Lord Healey on 3 October 2015, Eden became the oldest surviving former MP with the earliest date of first election.

Appointments:

• Member of the House of Commons Estimates committee (1960–1964)
• Delegate to Council of Europe and West European Union (1960–1962)
• Delegate to NATO Technology (June–October 1970)
• Minister of State for Industry (1970–1972)
• Minister of Posts and Telecommunications (1972–1974)
• Member of the House of Commons Expenditure committee (1974–1976)
• Chairman of the Select Committee on EEC Legislation (1976–1979)
• Chairman of the Select Committee on Home Affairs (1980–1983)
• Chairman of the British Lebanese Association (1990–1998)
• Chairman of the Royal Armouries Association (1986–1994)
• Member of Timken Company International Advisory Board
• Chairman of Lady Eden's Schools Ltd

Eden was twice married:

• 1) Belinda Jane Pascoe (1954 – divorced 1974); four children
  • The Honourable Emily Rose Eden (born 1959)
  • The Honourable Arabella Charlotte Eden (born 1960)
  • The Honourable Sir Robert Frederick Calvert Eden (born 30 April 1964). The 10th Baronet of West Auckland and 8th Baronet of Maryland.
  • The Honourable John "Jack" Edward Morton Eden (born 1966). Heir presumptive to the baronetcies.
• 2) Margaret Ann Gordon (1977 – his death 2020). A former wife of the Earl of Perth.

• Portraits of John Eden, Baron Eden of Winton at the National Portrait Gallery, London