For the 50th anniversary of the Medal (1955–2005), a panel named his 1983 medalist Gorilla one of the top ten winning works, which composed the ballot for a public election of the nation's favourite.

When he finished school, Browne intended to become a painter, but being short of money he took a job as a medical illustrator, producing detailed paintings of operations for Manchester Royal Infirmary.

He was once asked to present a children's program, whilst sitting in a cage of gorillas, and despite being badly bitten by one of them he completed the interview before being taken to hospital.

[14] Browne and writer Annalena McAfee won the 1985 Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis, Picture Book category, for Mein Papi, nur meiner!

He also won the Kurt Maschler Award "Emil" three times, which annually (1982 to 1999) recognized one British "work of imagination for children, in which text and illustration are integrated so that each enhances and balances the other.

In 2001–2002, Browne took a job as writer and illustrator at Tate Britain, working with children using art as a stimulus to inspire visual literacy and creative writing activities.

[5] Browne's books are translated into 26 languages and his illustrations have been exhibited in many countries including; The United States, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, France, Korea, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Japan, and Taiwan.