Roger was born in Hobart, Tasmania in 1939.  He was apprenticed to a commercial printer as a littographic artist and he studied life drawing under Jack Carrington Smith at the Tasmanian School of Art.

Since 1989, Roger has painted full-time in watercolours and oils from his home studio at Kingston Beach, Tasmania where he lives.

He travels and paints regularly in Europe and the Pacific region and he has exhibited widely in Australia and overseas.  Roger Murphy's work is admired by art lovers worldwide and his paintings are represented in many private and public collections.  He is a member of the Australian Watercolour Institute.

The Mercury Newspaper ranked Roger as one of Tasmania's Top Ten Artists.

Roger Murphy exhibits on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria and in Manly, NSW. He presents a one-man show in Tasmania at least once each year.