Chris Mann received a Bachelor of Music from the University of Melbourne in 1969, later completing a Bachelor of Education at La Trobe University. He then worked with music and theatre companies in Europe and Australia for several years. In 1973 he became founding director of New Music Centre and has been a composer and performer in the area of Compositional Linguistics. Since 1989, Mann has been associated with the ensembles Machine for Making Sense and Chris Mann and the Impediments.
Mann has received commissions for his work in compositional linguistics from Radio France, Paris Autumn, National Public Radio, Composers Forum, Australian Biennale, Ars Electronica, Australian Broadcasting Corporation and British Broadcasting Corporation. Mann has created other limited edition works of creative writing incorporating found objects and poetry.
In 1997 Mann was a Fellow at Bard College, New York, USA.
