Sawyer grew up in Tucson, Arizona. He attended undergraduate at Hampshire College, majoring in Apiculture and Mandarin. He then went on to graduate school in Hefei, China, researching the effects of pesticides on honeybees.

Sawyer graduated Cum Laude from Vermont Law School. He was a member of Vermont Law Review and interned at the Chittenden County Public Defender’s Office and Vermont Law School’s Immigration Law Clinic. Sawyer moved to Portland to work at Metropolitan Public Defender. During his two years there, he gained extensive trial experience handling civil commitments, as well as misdemeanor, contempt, and minor felony cases.

In his free time, Sawyer likes to practice Mandarin, hike, and snowboard.