Son of artist Peter Harold Matthews, Christopher Matthews is a professional watercolour artist who paints Australian subjects as well as those of the Mediterranean and Middle East, places he has visited on his frequent trips abroad. His work has been exhibited at Middle Eastern festivals in Australia and has won art awards.
His first novel Al Jazzar was joint winner of the 1981 Australian/Vogel Literary Award with Tim Winton's novel An Open Swimmer. Al Jazzar, a spy thriller, is set in the Middle East where Matthews spent some time in the 1970s. In the novel, Al Jazzar is a Nasser-like character who deposes Yasser Arafat.
In 1993 Matthews published his second novel, Sacred Site : The Story of Australia's Spiritual Awakening, which is about environmental politics in the outback.
His brother Andrew Matthews (1957-) has published books on happiness which have been translated into several languages.