Gregory John Rogers was born in Brisbane on 19 June 1957, the youngest in a large family. He studied Fine Art at the Queensland College of Art. After this, he held several solo exhibitions of his photography, drawing and painting in Brisbane. While working in the public service he taught himself graphic design. Eventually he became a freelance illustrator in 1987. His first major commission was for covers for young adult fiction for University of Queensland Press (UQP) in 1988 and continued working with UQP as a cover designer and illustrator for the best part of two decades, contributing many beautiful and imaginative covers with his signature style of photo-realism. Since 1988 he created more than 40 illustrated works with many acclaimed Australian writers such as Gary Crew, Libby Hathorn, Margaret Wild, Ian Trevaskis, Victor Keeleher and Laurie Stiller. In 1993, 'Lucy’s Bay' written by Gary Crew and illustrated by Rogers, was shortlisted for the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Picture Book of the Year Award. In 1994 he was the first Australian winner of the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal (Britain), for his illustrations in Libby Hathorn’s 'Way Home'. In 2004 'The Boy, The Bear, The Baron, The Bard', the first in a series of three wordless picture books by Gregory Rogers, was published after three years in the making. It became one of The New York Times’ 10 Best Illustrated Picture Books of 2005, and was shortlisted for the CBCA book awards in 2005. 'Midsummer Knight' (2006) and 'The Hero of Little Street' (2009) were part of the wordless picture book series. 'The Hero of Little Street' won the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s Picture Book of the Year award in 2010 and was awarded an Honour Listing by International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) in 2012. His last two books, published in 2013 were 'What’s Wrong with the Wobbygong?' by Phillip Gwynne, and Rogers’ own text 'Omar the Strongman'. Rogers played several musical instruments and collected books, CDs, antiques, and Art Deco items. He died from stomach cancer on 1 May 2013.