[1] During his childhood, he trained in Taekwondo, earning his black belt at the age of nine, making him the youngest person in Australia to do so at the time.

This was followed by appearances in films including, The Sapphires, with Chris O'Dowd and Deborah Mailman, the 2013 adaptation of The Great Gatsby, with Leonardo DiCaprio, and Blue World Order, which stars Billy Zane,[4] while his television credits consist of recurring roles in Underbelly, House Husbands, and a notable appearance in the Foxtel prison drama series, Wentworth (a reimagining of the classic Network Ten prison drama Prisoner), in which he played Harry Smith, the abusive husband of leading character Bea Smith (Danielle Cormack), for which Cormack's character was sentenced for the attempted murder of Harry.

In 2016 Ryan was cast in Australian soap opera Home and Away as Robbo, a man who suddenly appears in Summer Bay with amnesia, and having no recollection of prior events.

[8] In addition, Ryan appeared in the 30th anniversary special documentary, Endless Summer: 30 Years of Home and Away, which screened on the Seven Network on 17 July 2018.

[citation needed] In late 2018, Ryan took a brief hiatus from Home and Away, when he was cast in the leading role of New Zealand film Savage, directed by Sam Kelly and was inspired by real-life Kiwi street gangs.

[10] In August 2022, Ryan was announced in the line-up of Matthew Holmes' period-set shark thriller Fear Below opposite English actress Hermione Corfield.