Carl Harrison-Ford completed a BA (Hons) at the University of Sydney in the 1960s. He has worked as a freelance book-editor since the early 1970s, becoming a highly respected member of the publishing industry. Harrison-Ford has also contributed his editorial skills to a number of literary magazines, including
Poetry Magazine (later
New Poetry) and
Tabloid Story. He is a regular reviewer of new poetry for magazines and newspapers with more than one hundred reviews since 1969. His other publications include the anthology
Fighting Words: Australian War Writing (1986). Living in Blackheath since the early 1980s, he hosts a weekly roots and blues program on a local radio station.