Gary Crew was born in Brisbane, Queensland on 23 September 1947. An illnessduring childhood kept him home from school but enabled him to develop an interestin reading adventure stories.

Gary first trained as a design draftsman and he worked in this field for ten years.When he decided to become a teacher, his family responsibilities prevented him fromaccepting an art scholarship and he trained as an English teacher instead. Whileteaching he also gained a Master of Arts in Literature from Queensland University.

Gary was prompted to begin writing in order to provide relevant reading material forhis school students. In 1985 he published his first novel, The Inner Circle, and by1989 he had left teaching to write full time. Since then he has written numerous booksand won many awards. He has specialised in the areas of Teenage Fiction, YoungAdult Fiction and Children’s Picture Books.

Gary and his wife Christine have three children, Rachel, Sarah and Joel. Theirdaughters both have law degrees and Joel is a professional golfer and golf clubmanager.

Gary and Christine live in the mountains of the Sunshine Coast Hinterland where theyenjoy working in their cool climate garden. Gary is an associate professor at the Universityof the Sunshine Coast where he lectures in Creative Writing.