Fred Cossom Hollows was the fourth son (the others being Colin, John and Maurice) born at in Dunedin, New Zealand, to "working class father"- "small-time horticulturalist", formerly a railway fireman, later driver- Joseph Hollows, whose father was of Lancashire origin, and Clarice, daughter of ship's cook Frederick Cossom Marshall, from Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

After observing the doctors at a mental hospital during some charity work,[citation needed] he instead enrolled at Otago Medical School.

[4] While living in Dunedin, he was an active member of the New Zealand Alpine Club and made several first ascents of mountains in the Mount Aspiring/Tititea region of Central Otago.

In 1951, Edmund Hillary was on a test run for Everest, and was backpacking up the Tasman Glacier towards Malte Brun Hut; all five were carrying loads of 70 lb (32 kg) or more.

These visits inspired his life's mission to advocate for better access to eye health and living conditions for Indigenous Australians.

In 1992, Hollows spoke at the Alice Springs National Aboriginal HIV/AIDS Conference, and argued that some areas of the AIDS campaign were being inadequately dealt with at the time.

According to The Australian's Martin Thomas, Hollows stated that some homosexuals were "recklessly spreading the virus"; therefore, the safe sex campaign was an inadequate way of dealing with the issue.

Upon his death, the Chief Minister of the ACT, Rosemary Follett, described Hollows to her parliamentary colleagues as "an egalitarian and a self-named anarcho-syndicalist who wanted to see an end to the economic disparity which exists between the First and Third Worlds and who believed in no power higher than the best expressions of the human spirit found in personal and social relationships.

[19] He was survived by his wife Gabi Hollows (an Australian Living Treasure), and children Tanya, Ben, Cam, Emma, Anna-Louise, Ruth and Rosa.