Chris Clark graduated from the Royal Military College 1972 and served in the Australian Army Intelligence Corps until 1979. Following this he worked in the Departments of Defence, Foreign Affairs, and Prime Minister and Cabinet.

After writing commissioned histories for six years, during which time he completed a PhD at the Australian Defence Force Academy, he worked at the Australian National University and the Australian War Memorial.

From 2004, until he retired nine years later, he was RAAF Historian and Head of the Office of Air Force History. He has written extensively on aspects of Australian defence over many years in a variety of publications as sole author, contributor and editor.