Russell James Ogilvie Hall was born on 29 April 1947 and grew up on a farm in Harrisville, Queensland. He started studying architecture at the University of Queensland and completed his training in 1974 with the Queensland Institute of Technology (now Queensland University of Technology or QUT). He briefly worked in James Birrell's Brisbane firm. In 1976 he worked for the Papua New Guinea Housing Commission. Returning from Papua New Guinea in 1979, Russell practised architecture on the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane. He established the practice, Russell Hall Architects. In 1991, he also founded a sheet metal manufacturing business called Ripple Iron Curving Company.