[6] He completed a diploma of teaching at Ardmore Teachers' College in 1959, and subsequently attended Victoria University of Wellington, graduating with a Master of Arts in History in 1964.

[8] He has said that at the time he started writing, he was inspired by the examples of Alistair Te Ariki Campbell, Jacquie Sturm and Hone Tuwhare, who were then the only well-known Polynesian writers in New Zealand.

[5][1][2] There, he published a number of articles in the literary journal Mana (including works examining the impact of colonialism on Pacific arts and culture) and edited collections of poems from Fiji, Samoa, the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu), and the Solomon Islands.

[1][2][11] In 1974 he published a collection of short stories, in the style of modern-day fables, titled Flying Fox in a Freedom Tree.

[1][2] Wendt's epic family saga Leaves of the Banyan Tree (1979) won first place at the 1980 Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Awards.

[15] In his later career he edited important anthologies of Pacific writing including Nuanua (1995),[1][2] Whetu Moana: Contemporary Polynesian Poems in English (2003) (with Reina Whaitiri and Robert Sullivan) and Mauri Ola: Contemporary Polynesian Poems in English – Whetu Moana II (2010) (with Whaitiri and Sullivan).

The novel Ola (1991) features a female protagonist travelling around the world and themes of religious faith and identity,[1][2][12] and won the 1992 Commonwealth Writers Prize for the Asia-Pacific Region.

[24] Poetry by Wendt was included in UPU, a curation of Pacific Island writers' work which was first presented at the Silo Theatre as part of the Auckland Arts Festival in March 2020.

[21] The first notable study of his work was published in 2003, by Paul Sherrad, titled Albert Wendt and Pacific Literature: Circling the Void.

[2] New Zealand scholar Lydia Wevers said that Wendt's works "have been instrumental in shaping a Pacific literature in English, especially in its evolution from oral to written form".

But in crucial ways, Wendt is an unparalleled figure in our region.He is the subject of a documentary, The New Oceania, made in New Zealand by Point of View Productions.

[29][30] One of his daughters, Mele Wendt, was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to governance in the 2019 New Year Honours.

[29][32][33] He is a cousin of actor Nathaniel Lees, who directed and starred in Wendt's play The Songmaker's Chair at the 2003 Auckland Arts Festival.