John Doyle was born in 1953 in Lithgow, New South Wales, Australia. He graduated with a Diploma of Teaching (1973) and then completed a B (Arts) degree at the University of Newcastle (NSW) in 1978. Doyle taught at Glendale High School but was also a member of the Hunter Valley Theatre Company. In 1985, he resigned and moved to Sydney, where he joined the Sydney Theatre Company. It was while in Sydney that he met Greig Pickhaver and "Roy and H.G." was born.