[1][2] He attended Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview and graduated with honours in English Literature; he entered University of Sydney studying Arts Law.
[4] Inspired by seeing Skyhooks perform at the 1975 Sunbury Pop Festival, he established Rock Australia Magazine (RAM), with English-born publisher Phillip Mason in March 1975.
[6] Through his articles, he championed the early careers of Skyhooks, Jeff St John, Wendy Saddington, Chain, the Angels, Cold Chisel, Midnight Oil and Radio Birdman.
[2][7] As editor he fostered the careers of fellow writers Glenn A. Baker, Jen Jewel Brown, Stuart Coupe, Andrew McMillan and Clinton Walker.
He said he was dissatisfied with how the magazine's profits were being invested in "starting up new, invariably unsuccessful publications" rather than improving RAM's "investigative journalism and in-depth profiling".
[2][7][9] According to O'Grady, it was "a tip sheet ... to highlight records that are starting to work at radio and/or retail" before they appeared on the Australian Music Report or ARIA Charts.
[10] He provided in-depth interviews, with Australian rock musicians, for the oral history at the National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA) and continued writing for newspapers including The Sydney Morning Herald into the 2010s.