Michael Wall was born and raised in Dagenham. He had a difficult upbringing due to a very strict father, who solved problems by beating him. At 16, he ran away from where he lived and at 21, he managed to immigrate to Australia in 1974. He has held many varied occupations before enlisting in the Australian Army and upon his discharge 12 years later, he joined the New South Wales ambulance service, where he remained for the next 23 years until his early retirement at the age of 58. He and his wife relocated to a small country town in New South Wales, where they now live very happily together.