Butcher was born in Dunedin on 17 March 1995.^[5] He grew up in Alexandra in Central Otago. He attended Dunstan High School.^[6] He is often referred to as "The Butcher".^[7][8]

Butcher studied industrial design at the University of Otago for two years. He took a year off from university to concentrate on training, travelling, and competition. He moved to Auckland in 2016. He then enrolled for and graduated from a bachelor of sport and exercise via distance study at Massey University.^[9][10]

Butcher first tried paddling aged nine.^[5] His early canoeing experience is from the Kawarau River.^[11] His mentor was Alan "Sarge" Hoffman, who died in 2022.^[12][13] Once he had moved to Auckland, he flatted with fellow canoeist Callum Gilbert so that they could maximise their training time at the then-new Vector Wero Whitewater Park in Manukau.^[14]

At the 2018 World Junior and U23 Canoe Slalom Championships, Butcher came fourth in the U23 K1 event, narrowly beaten by Sweden's Erik Holmer for the bronze medal (Holmer finished in 80.85 sec and Butcher in 80.89 sec).^[15]

He won a silver medal in kayak cross at the 2021 World Championships in Bratislava, beaten for gold by Joe Clarke.^[16]

Butcher was a non-travelling reserve for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games for the K1 event. At the 2023 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships, he gained quota places for New Zealand in K1 and kayak cross by finishing 13th and 11th, respectively.^[12] He was selected to fill these quota places and competed in K1 and kayak cross. In the K1, he missed getting into the finals and finished 19th. In the kayak cross, he became the inaugural Olympic champion when he unexpectedly beat the three-time world champion Joe Clarke.^[11][17]