David Keith Williamson was born in Melbourne on 24 February 1942 and brought up in Bairnsdale. He studied mechanical engineering and psychology at the University of Melbourne and Monash University, graduating in mechanical engineering in 1964. He lectured in both these subjects and worked as a design engineer for General Motors.

His first play, The Indecent Exposure of Anthony East, was produced by the Tin Alley Players at Melbourne University’s Union Theatre in 1968.

David Williamson’s career as a dramatist began when La Mama produced three of his short plays and The Coming of Stork in 1970, followed by The Removalists in 1971, launching him to become one of Australia’s best known and most widely performed playwrights and one of Australia’s leading screenwriters. 
Some of his more than fifty produced plays include Don’s Party, The Department, The Club, Travelling North, The Perfectionist, Sons of Cain, Emerald City, Top Silk, Money & Friends, Sanctuary, Dead White Males, After the Ball, Face to Face, Up For Grabs, A Conversation, Charitable Intent, Soulmates, Birthrights, Amigos, Influence, Lotte’s Gift, Scarlet O’Hara at the Crimson Parrot, Let the Sunshine, Rhinestone Rex and Miss Monica, Don Parties On, At Any Cost? (co-written by Mohamed Khadra), When Dad Married Fury, Managing Carmen, Rupert, Cruise Control, Jack of Hearts, Odd Man Out, Sorting Out Rachel, Nearer the Gods, and Family Values.    
His plays have been produced by all the major Australian theatre companies – with twenty Sydney Theatre Company productions and twenty-two at Sydney’s Ensemble Theatre. His plays have been translated into many languages and performed internationally, including; The Removalists at Royal Court London, New York, Germany, France and Los Angeles; Don’s Party at the Royal Court and in Scandinavia; The Club at Kennedy Center for Arts in Washington DC and then a Broadway transfer, Hampstead Theatre London, Toronto; The Perfectionist at Hampstead Theatre and the Spoleto Festival; Money & Friends in Los Angeles, and in Poland and Canada; Sanctuary in NZ, Antwerp, Belgium, Hong Kong and Singapore; Up For Grabs on the West End starring Madonna, and Rupert at the Kennedy Centre Washington DC in 2013. David has directed eight professional productions of his own work and written many radio dramas.  
David has written (or co-written) fifteen feature films, including the original screenplays for Petersen, Eliza Fraser, (starring Susannah York) Gallipoli, The Year of Living Dangerously (both starring Mel Gibson), Phar Lap and Balibo. His writing feature adaptations of his own plays include The Removalists, Don’s Party, The Club, Travelling North, Emerald City and Sanctuary. For television he adapted On the Beach, wrote The Four Minute Mile, A Dangerous Life, The Perfectionist, and The Department. 
David was the first person outside Britain to receive the George Devine Award (for The Removalists). His many awards include twelve Australian Writers’ Guild AWGIE Awards, five Australian Film Institutes’ Awards for Best Screenplay and, in 1996 The United Nations Association of Australia Media Peace Award.  In 2005 he was awarded the Richard Lane Award for services to the Australian Writers’ Guild. David has received four honorary doctorates and been made an Officer of the Order of Australia, as well as having been named one of Australia’s Living National Treasures. 
David’s memoir Home Truths was published by Harper Collins and shortlisted for the 2022 National Biography Award.
A much lauded revival of his play Rhinestone Rex and Miss Monica is currently playing a season at the Ensemble theatre in Sydney.
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