Malcolm Walker was born and raised in South London. Unable to see the relevance of a Secondary Modern education, he left school at 15. A life-long interest in geography and other cultures saw him spend five years travelling the world in the mid-1970s.

During a visit to Australia he became enamoured of the country and its easy-going attitudes, returning in the early 1980s and settling in Adelaide, South Australia, where he now lives with his family.