In July 2014, Harris was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison after being convicted on twelve counts of indecent assault on four female victims, who were between the ages of eight and nineteen at the time that the offences took place between the 1960s and 1980s.

[17][18][failed verification] While he was just 16, and still a student at Perth Modern School, his self-portrait in oils was one of the 80 works (out of 200 submitted) accepted to be hung in the Art Gallery of New South Wales as an entry in the 1947 Archibald Prize.

In 1954, Harris was a regular on BBC Television programme Whirligig, which featured a character called "Willoughby", who sprang to life on a drawing board, but was erased at the end of each episode.

He then met his longtime hero, Australian impressionist painter Hayward Veal (1913–1968), who became his mentor, teaching him the rudiments of impressionism and showing him how it could help with his portrait painting.

At the Down Under venue Harris honed his entertainment skills over several years, eventually writing what later became his theme song, "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport".

[28] On Associated Rediffusion's Small Time,[29] Harris invented a character called Oliver Polip the Octopus, which he drew on the back of his hand and animated.

[31] From 1959, he worked on TVW-7's first locally produced show, Spotlight, and during this time he recorded "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport" on a single microphone placed above him in the television studio.

"[36] After Harris and his wife returned to England, they visited Perth to meet family and for tours of Australia, where he spent around four months travelling with his band.

[38] Harris sang "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport", with the Beatles singing backing vocals, for the first edition of the From Us to You BBC radio show in December 1963.

[43] Harris created one of his best known characters in the 1960s, Jake the Peg, but his biggest success in terms of record sales was in 1969, with his rendering of the American Civil War song "Two Little Boys", originally written in 1902.

[31] On many of his television appearances, Harris painted pictures on large boards in an apparently slapdash manner, with the odd nonsense song thrown in, asking "Can you tell what is it yet?"

In 2000, Harris, along with Steve Lima, released a dance track called "Fine Day", which entered the "top 30" in the UK charts at that time.

Harris performed "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport" in 2000 with the Australian children's group the Wiggles; he was subsequently digitally removed from DVD releases after his conviction.

[57] In 2001 and 2004, Harris presented Rolf on Art, a television series that highlighted the work of a selection of his favourite artists, including van Gogh, Degas, Monet and Gauguin.

[58] On 26 September 2004, Harris oversaw a project to recreate John Constable's The Hay Wain painting on a large scale, with 150 people each contributing a small section.

Also in 2004, as a part of the Rolf on Art series, Harris travelled to Lapland to design and paint a Christmas card for the "Children in Need" charity organisation.

[64] In January 2007, a one-hour documentary titled A Lifetime in Paint, about Harris's work as an artist—from his early years in Australia to the present day—was screened on BBC One.

[71] From September 2010 to October 2010, he took part in Jamie's Dream School, teaching art to a class of 20 students,[72] followed by an appearance as himself on the Christmas special of My Family, which aired on 24 December 2010.

[82] In October 2012, Harris started presenting a series on Channel 5, based at Liverpool University's Veterinary School, called Rolf's Animal Clinic.

[87] As well as his beatboxing, similar to eefing, Harris went on to use an array of unusual instruments in his music, including the didgeridoo (the sound of which was imitated on "Sun Arise" by four double basses), the Jew's harp and later, the Stylophone (for which he also lent his name and likeness for advertising).

[93] In October 2008 Harris announced he would re-record his popular 1969 song "Two Little Boys", backed by North Wales' Froncysyllte Male Voice Choir, to mark the 90th anniversary of the end of World War I.

[95] Harris was inspired to make the recording after participating in My Family at War, a short series of programmes that aired during the BBC's "Remembrance" season, broadcast in November 2008.

[96] In March 2013, Harris was one of twelve people arrested in England during Operation Yewtree, for questioning regarding historical allegations of sexual offences.

[98][105][106][107] The Crown Prosecution Service's Alison Saunders explained to the media: Having completed our review, we have concluded there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest for Mr Harris to be charged ...

"[116] Additional witnesses who claimed to have been assaulted in Malta, New Zealand, and Australia were called to testify against Harris, although these charges could not be pursued in the British courts.

[126] On 30 July 2014, the new Attorney General, Jeremy Wright, announced that he would not be referring the sentence to the Court of Appeal for review "as he did not think they would find it to be unduly lenient and increase it.

"[135] The publication of the letter led Dux to question whether Harris should get parole:[136][137][138] It should certainly affect the way he's treated when he applies for early release – he hasn't understood the severity of his crimes.

Harris has caused those he abused great harm, and by writing this letter, he continues to cause them harm.In 2014, Vanessa Feltz alleged that Harris sexually assaulted her while she interviewed him live on the bed during an edition of Channel 4 morning programme The Big Breakfast,[139] and Linda Nolan alleged that he groped her in 1975, when she was 15, when the Nolan Sisters were his support act in South Africa.

[151] On 16 November 2017, Harris's conviction on the charge that he had indecently assaulted an eight-year-old girl at a community centre in Portsmouth in 1969 was overturned on the grounds that it was unsafe.

[167] Harris was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1968; he was advanced to Officer (OBE) in 1977, then to Commander (CBE) in 2006,[168] but these honours were revoked in March 2015.