After his training at Kingston Polytechnic College and the Royal Academy of Arts, he lived and worked for 30 years in various parts of Norfolk and Suffolk, England.

[6][7][8][9][10] Whelan first came to the attention of the public and media in a fringe event connected to the Aldeburgh Festival in 2000 with an exhibition entitled "The Church Pub" with co artist Andrew Smith.

[12] Over the next two years (2001-2), the exhibition was held at several other London venues including: St Benedict's Abbey in Ealing, Spotlight and Broadway Galleries in Lewisham, and Irish Club in Eaton Square.

[24] Whelan joined fellow London Royal Academy of Art alumni in the 'Legacy' exhibition held at the Minories Galleries in Colchester, England, UK in 2019.

[30][31] Norwich Cathedral in Norfolk England commissioned Whelan to paint 14 panels of the spiritual life and death of International Red Cross nurse Edith Cavell in 2014.

The panels on which the scenes of The Passion of Edith Cavell were painted, were first exhibited at Washington National Cathedral in the US to mark 100 years since the beginning of WW1.