On 6 January 2015, he was appointed the 12th director of the National Portrait Gallery in London,[1] a post he began several months later.
He moved to Britain aged 4 or 5 years, and grew up in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, England.
Between 2001 and 2003, while a student, he worked as a visitor services assistant at the National Portrait Gallery, where he was later appointed director in 2015.
[1] In 2014, he co-curated an exhibition of Henri Matisse's cut-outs at Tate Modern with Sir Nicholas Serota.
[9] Cullinan was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to art.