Sharp was born in Moosomin, Saskatchewan in 1915 and graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada in 1938, student # 2420.

Following the outbreak of war, he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in Trenton, Ontario in July 1939.

[1] In 1946, he was a member of the Chelsey committee which was instructed to make recommendations about the provision of officers for the active force, about the educational requirements of candidates, and about the way they should be trained.

After the war, Sharp served with the Air Force HQ and Central Flying School in Trenton.

[3][4] The following year, in 1968, he was regraded from Air Marshal to Lieutenant General and in January 1969 he was appointed Deputy Commander-in-Chief of NORAD.

In 1969, Sharp was elevated to the rank of General and served as Chief of Defence Staff of the Canadian Armed Forces from 1969 to 1972.

The papers he collected on the reorganization and the unification of the Canadian Forces are included in the Robert Lewis Raymont fonds at Wilfrid Laurier University.