Garth Nix was born in 1963 in Melbourne, Australia. He grew up in Canberra, the federal capital of Australia.

When he finished secondary school, he traveled in Europe for several years. In 1983 he returned to Australia where he enrolled at the University of Canberra in a professional writing program. He also joined the Australian Army Reserve. After graduating from the university in 1986, Nix worked for several years in the publishing industry, eventually becoming a senior editor with a large publisher in 1991. In 1993, Nix quit his job as an editor to travel in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. He returned to Sydney in 1994, and began working for a public relations firm. In 1996, with two partners, he started his own public relations company— Gotley Nix Evans Pty Ltd.

In January 1998 Nix stopped working actively at Gotley Nix Evans and wrote full-time until May 1999 when...