Born in England in 1958, he attended Leeds Metropolitan University where he studied furniture design and the Royal College of Art in London graduating in 1983. Bennett was influenced by the work of the English craft designers for their conceptual and practical approach to design. His early work caught the attention of the Italian based furniture company Tecno where he began working as an in-house designer. This became the basis of his design training and approach to working as a freelance designer based in Italy since 1983.