Hardgrave was born in Sydney, New South Wales, and was educated at Griffith University, Queensland.
[1] In the 1970s he began his career as a radio broadcaster,[1] and a TV reporter firstly with the Australian children's television show Wombat between 1979 and 1982.
In 1989, he was the founding news director for SEA-FM Gold Coast and later worked as a media adviser to Liberal politicians, before entering politics.
[2] He contested the Division of Moreton successfully at the 1996 federal election against Labor incumbent Garrie Gibson,[3] going on to retain the seat in 1998, 2001 and 2004.
[10] In January 2014, he left full-time radio but commenced a weekly column in the Queensland Sunday Mail newspaper before resigning media and corporate activities in June 2014.