After leaving school he joined the state government's Department of Mines as a clerk based in Southern Cross.
After five years in Marble Bar he moved to Perth where he became wealthy through his mining and property interests.
[1] After serving as the state president of the WA division of the Liberal Party from 1975 to 1979, Crichton-Browne was elected to the Senate for Western Australia in 1980 (term beginning 1 July 1981), 1983, 1984, 1987 and 1990.
[2] His expulsion motion was initiated by WA Liberal state president David Honey, who was Crichton-Browne's protege.
[1] In 1998, he pleaded guilty in the ACT Magistrates Court to fraudulently claiming $4,500 in taxpayer-funded expenses for two weekends spent at holiday spots with a female companion.