Kevin James Rule was born at Daylesford, Victoria on 9 November 1941.
He was a secondary school teacher and had a particular interest in the taxonomy of Australian eucalyptus.
He is an honorary associate of the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria.
His main field is in taxonomy, particularly eucalypts and as a botanical collector.
In 2011 Kevin James Rule described three sub-species of Eucalyptus baueriana.