[1] Jimmy was a middle-aged man who had survived a battle with leukemia in 1995 and was determined to devote himself heart and soul to his art.

In 1998 his picture books Secrets In The Forest (森林裡的秘密) and A Fish With A Smile (微笑的魚) were published in Taiwan.

His picture book A Chance of Sunshine or Turn Left, Turn Right (向左走, 向右走), which was published in 1999, was voted “One of the Ten Most Influential Books” by the Taiwanese bookstore chain, Kingstones.

His pictures are characterized by their use of striking, bold colours and depict central figures that often appear small in the foreground, suggesting the viewpoint of a child in the wide, sometimes sinister, world, or to hint at loneliness.

In June 2019, Jimmy Liao was the Guest of Honor of the Comicfestival in Munich, Germany.