Charleux was born in Paris, but spent much of his childhood in Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Niger.
[2] In 1973 he moved to French Polynesia, where he surveyed archeological sites and restored marae on Tahiti.
[2] He returned to French Polynesia in 1977, where he taught archaeology and managed the excavation of Vai'hi marae on Raiatea.
[2] In the 1980's he taught at Lycée Paul-Gauguin[1] and worked the Musée de Tahiti et des Îles, where he developed a "museum-suitcase" to display the contents of the museum on small islands.
[1] In September 1987 he put his research on hold after he was appointed principal of Telopea Park School in Canberra, Australia.