Robert Whyte began writing stories and editing magazines at the age of fifteen and started his novel, Manacles, when eighteen. In 1974 he spent a year at James Cook University and in 1981 gained a postgraduate diploma at the Alexander Mackie College of Advanced Education.
In 1976 Whyte was awarded a Young Writer's Fellowship from the Australia Council and went on to write journalism and fiction 1978-1981. He spent 1982-1983 travelling in Europe and in 1985-1986 was employed by the Victorian Government as a writer, editor and film-maker. In 1987 he became Director of Toadshow, a Brisbane based multimedia, web design, print services company and went on to design and construct many community and arts websites. In 2004 Whyte developed Toadal Control, a content management system for websites.
Whyte tutored in New Communication Technologies at Griffith University in 1999-2000 and lectured on Contemporary Issues in Technology and Design at Queensland University of Technology in 2000.
In 2010 he became Director, Save Our Waterways Now, a community environmental organisation restoring habitat in Brisbane’s west. His works on habitat restoration include The Creek in Our Back Yard (2011 & 2013).
