Glenn was born on the outskirts of Sydney in 1950, to parents who wanted him to be educated and have a professional career. He went to university and managed to become a teacher, but it was the late 1960s and universities were in tumult; he opted for the counter-culture. This took him to live in the bush, where he spent the next twenty years. He came back to Sydney in 1997 and finally got a job as a writer and editor. He obtained a Bachelor of Business degree (and the University Medal) and a Master of Education degree. He has written fifteen books in various genres, as well as releasing four collections of poems prior to this book.