Born in Taumarunui, King Country, North Island, New Zealand, Adams later emigrated to Australia.

Adams' defining role came in 1977 when he was cast as a leading character, Detective Jeff Johnson, in the police procedural series Cop Shop.

[5] He subsequently appeared in Prisoner as the tough Acting Governor Bob Moran, for three months in 1986.

In 1985 he toured Victoria appearing in Warwick Moss' two-man play Down An Alley Filled With Cats.

Adams directed the 1995 Geelong Lyric Theatre Society production of Les Misérables.