He was also a professor of psychology at the University of Otago, the 2007 founder and co-director of the National Centre for Lifecourse Research,[1] the founder in 2011 of the Graduate Longitudinal Study, New Zealand,[1] and the chief science adviser of the Ministry of Social Development in the New Zealand government.

For Poulton's father's work, the family moved from Christchurch to Wellington, and then to Auckland.

[3]: 5:48 On finishing high school, Poulton moved to Dunedin to attend the University of Otago.

[3]: 19:27  Burned out and broke after 18 months, he then went to Sydney, Australia, by which time his parents had moved there.

[1] Poulton then took a position as a clinical psychologist at Long Bay Jail, treating people at risk of suicide.

[9] In November 2022 Poulton was awarded the Royal Society Te Apārangi's Rutherford Medal, along with the Dunedin Study and team members Murray Thomson, Terrie Moffitt and Avshalom Caspi.