John Bailey has worked as a teacher and barrister in addition to his career as a writer. Bailey published two novels during the 1970s before returning to work as a barrister. In 1999 Bailey quit the Bar and moved from Melbourne, Victoria, to Mullumbimby, northern New South Wales, in order to write full time.
Bailey's non-fiction writing includes The White Divers of Broome : The True Story of a Fatal Experiment (2001) and The Lost German Slave Girl : The Extraordinary True Story of the Slave Sally Miller and Her Fight for Freedom (2003).
In the 2007 New South Wales state election Bailey stood as the Green's candidate for the seat of Ballina.