Michael J. Roads was born in Cambridgeshire, England, and grew up as a farmer's son. He left school as early as he could and worked for his father. At the age of 21, he married his first wife, Treenie (née Barker), with whom he emigrated to Australia in 1964. Together, they had a beef and dairy farm and raised four children. During this time, he became one of the key members that initiated the Australian organic movement and he wrote his first book, on organic gardening, which became a bestseller. After selling the farm in the mid-70s, he and his late wife co-founded a spiritual community, which they left after four years, eventually moving to the Bellingen Valley on the east coast of Australia. In 2007 he remarried Carolyn (née Silver). Currently, they reside on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland.

In 1986 he experienced what he described as "a profound leap into a higher state of consciousness" and began writing his books and giving public talks. For over thirty years, Roads has been a writer and spiritual teacher in many countries around the world.