Grahame was born in Queensland, Australia, and was interested in rock art since he was thirteen. He trained as a newspaper photographer, then moved to the country to be near the art he so admired. He was soon taken into the confidence of the property owners, which enabled him to visit many cultural sites not well known.

He joined the Queensland National Wildlife Parks Wildlife Service in 1977 to work in the Carnavon National Park area and was later appointed technical officer (historic sites).

In 1988 he was commissioned by the Australian Government to produce a book for the National Bicentenary that covered all of the known aborigine works of art. "Australia's Greatest Rock Art", the resulting book, is seen as the finest of its kind ever produced. He was awarded the J. P. Thompson Medal by the Royal Geographical Society of Queensland in 1990.

He is pictured (left) with the world's largest recorded Tassel Bradshaw, 1720mm (68ins), which he discovered on July 22nd 1991.

Grahame Walsh is featured in the Bradshaw Paintings iLecture documentary film, which can be viewed here.