John Perrins Osborne was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England on 17 October 1853 and was articled to Thomas Naden in Birmingham, England from 1869 to 1874. He then worked as an assistant to Reuben Castle in Cleckheaton in 1874 and to Samuel James Newman (1850-1942) in Northampton in 1875. He commenced independent practice as an architect in Birmingham in 1876 and was later in partnership with his son, Frank John Osborne (1886-1959).
Osborne was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1882 and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1894. From the early 1890s onwards his business address was given as 95, Colmore Row, Birmingham, England. He died in 1934
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 2: L-Z. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 147, 23 November 1934 p. 880