Brian graduated from the VSF in 1961, and from 1962 to 1966 he was posted to both the Swifts Creek and Mansfield Forest Districts, and then to Assessment Branch before spending a year at Rennick.

From 1967 to 1970 he was involved in the Sirex Program, before becoming the Assistant District Forester (ADF) in the Mirboo Forest District (FD) in 1970, and then ADF in Nowa Nowa FD. From 1977 to 1980 he was a Lecturer at VSF, and then ADF at Alexandra FD from 1980 to 1985. He was awarded the Diploma of Forestry (Victoria) for a thesis titled "Sirex noctilio and its biological control within a Radiata Pine plantation in Mirboo Forest District of South Central Victoria".

In 1985 he became the Assistant Regional Manager – Operations in the Bendigo Region of Conservation, Forests and Lands. He was on the Regional Management Training Committee from 1987 to 1990, and in 1991 and 1992 he was a Lecturer and Course Manager at what was by then the Victorian School of Forestry and Land Management at Creswick.

From 1993 until 2009 he ran his own forest and forest industry training consultancy.