[2][3] McLean was running a woman's shoe shop in Double Bay, Sydney, when he read an article about a TV series being made in Australia, Riptide (1969).
He wrote some episodes of Skippy the Bush Kangaroo and did sketches for The Mavis Bramston Show.
[2] McLean met Roger Mirans when working on Woobinda, Animal Doctor.
In the early 1980s he set up Ron McLean Productions which produced Airhawk, The Little Feller and Outbreak of Hostilities.
[4] McLean married Elizabeth, and together they have three daughters, Sara, Sallie, Samantha and son Steven.