After leaving school, he initially found employment in a pharmacy, before going to work for his father and uncle in their paint shop, Levene and Co., on Auckland's Karangahape Road, in 1947.

By 1994, when it was sold to Skellerup Group, the company had grown to 52 stores nationwide, as well as wallpaper and paint factories, with one thousand staff and annual turnover of $150 million.

[3] He continued to play an active role in his business and philanthropic interests in his later years, and died at his home in Takapuna on 11 August 2021, at the age of 91.

[8][9] In the 1995 Queen's Birthday Honours, Levene was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for services to business and the community.

[10] In the 2010 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was made a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, also for services to business and the community.