Walker was born in Balwyn[3] or Colac,[4]Victoria in Australia in 1927.[5] He left school at age 13[4] but attended Melbourne Teachers' College from 1945 to 1947[3] before moving to Hobart in 1948.[6] In the 1950s he repeatedly traveled to Europe, studying sculpting under Henry Moore[4] from 1954 to 1956 and visiting Rome, Florence and Prague through scholarships.[3] On his return to Australia he settled in Tasmania.[6]
Work
Walker mainly created bronze sculptures, including the Tank Stream Fountain (1981) in Herald Square near Circular Quay, Sydney and a memorial for Antarctic explorer Louis Bernacchi at Hobart's Victoria Dock.[4] His statues were designed to be usable, for example by strengthening them so people could sit on them. Four of his works are included in the National Heritage Register.[7] Much of his work was inspired by nature and by Antarctica,[6] a continent he visited twice in the 1980s via the Australian Antarctic Division's Humanities Program.[3]