Shark has won 8 ARIA Music Awards from 29 nominations, including winning Best Pop Release three times: in 2017 for her extended play, Night Thinker, 2018 for Love Monster and 2020 for "Everybody Rise".

[1] Her mother, Robyn, remarried and raised Shark on the Gold Coast with her stepfather David Cushway and a younger half-sibling.

[2] She attended Southport State High School,[3][4] where she performed in theatre, studied film, and played guitar in an all-female punk-band.

[5] Cushway described her first group, Dorothy's Rainbow and Hansel Kissed Gretel, as "'quite thrashy', though it fell apart when its members splintered.

[13] In June 2008 Cushway supported gigs by Brianna Carpenter at The Globe and at The Red Brick Hotel, Brisbane.

[14][15] She released her debut extended play, I Thought of You Out Loud, which included the track, "Take Time Take Me", in mid-2008 and performed the EP at solo gigs from July.

It sounds selfish, but it's just reality [...] I definitely write songs that the typical ear hasn't heard before, the lyrics are honest and relate to all ages.

"[18] She derived inspiration from Tegan and Sara, "they find different ways to deliver the meaning of a song with lyrics that don’t necessarily spell it out.

"[18] Christie Eliezer of In Music & Media described the EP, "Her new tracks see her move from delicate acoustic ballads to thunderous beats, as 'Little Overweight for TV' and 'Breathing on Aeroplanes' streaming on [her website] show.

Labels are sniffing..."[21] Whereas the artist felt, "[it's] a slightly grown up version of the one before with a splash of garage electric guitar.

[22] In November of that year the artist described her early material, "As much as I enjoy writing intricate acoustic ballads, there's nothing better than adding thunderous beats and raw energy to your set.

I'm a little bit obsessed with Peter Pan and The Lost Boys, and my partner Shane is very much into war movies... one night we got out Flyboys... [and] threw around some [band] names and that was one of them.

[24]" Cushway described her third EP, Broadway Gossip (October 2010),[25] "this was me returning home to Australia from the United States and thinking I need to experiment with beats.

[30] She activated a new YouTube account, as Amy Shark Music, in 2014 and issued a single, "Spits on Girls", in July.

"[33] Chris Singh of The AU Review observed, "The song, powerful and penetrating in itself, is given visuals both understated and intense as Little Sleeper stands in darkness with her guitar and is progressively drenched in multi-coloured paint.

"[11] It won Pop Song of the Year at the Queensland Music Awards in 2016, and Shark embarked on a nationwide tour supporting Sydney band, Tigertown in December.

[38] "Adore" received significant airplay on Triple J, leading to a bidding war between major labels, which was won by Sony Music Australia.

[42][43][44] In March 2017, Shark released "Weekends" followed by another EP, Night Thinker (April), which peaked at number 2 on the ARIA Singles Chart.

[52] It received unpaid promotion by comedians, and digital radio show hosts, Luke and Lewis using posters, megaphone and a large home-made sign hung up next to the Fox FM Melbourne station logo.

[57] According to The Sydney Morning Herald's Nathanael Cooper, "[Handlin] was furious she hadn’t thanked him or Sony in her speech for the major award.

[47] For her latest album, Amy Shark worked with Ed Sheeran,[59] Diplo,[60] Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins,[60] and the Chainsmokers.

On 16 February 2020, Shark performed at the Fire Fight Australia fund-raising relief concert in Sydney for the effects of the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season.

[64] Alexander Pan of Tone Deaf observed, "[it's] a thumping power-pop ballad that's got a considerable amount of weight behind it.

[69] Shark revealed the album's track listing in an interview with Rolling Stone Australia' Tyler Jenke on the same day.

[70] "Love Songs Ain't for Us", featuring Australian country musician Keith Urban, was released on 19 February 2021 as the album's fourth single.

[73] Shark appeared as a contestant on the sixth season of The Celebrity Apprentice Australia from May to June 2022, she finished in the top 4.

[12][84] The couple worked with the local National Rugby League football club, Gold Coast Titans: Shark as a video editor and Shane managing finances.

[87] Shark cancelled a proposed American tour set for September 2023 due to hospitalisation for an unspecified illness in early August.

[89] The artist described having felt discomfort before seeking medical assistance and was due to undergo surgery with a month for recovery.

The Logie Awards is an annual gathering to celebrate Australian television, sponsored and organised by the magazine TV Week.