[1] Cole practiced as a solicitor before he was admitted to the bar in 1962 where he represented in commercial and common law matters and before the Land and Environment Court.

[1] With an active military service in the Royal Australian Naval Reserve that commenced in 1969, rising to the rank of Commodore, Cole served as Deputy Judge Advocate General of the Australian Defence Force between 1992 and 1998.

[1] He was commissioner of the 2000-2003 Cole Royal Commission into the Building and Construction Industry[3] and the 2005-2006 Cole Inquiry investigating allegations that AWB Limited paid illegal bribes to the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein in order to secure wheat sales to Iraq.

[4] On 31 March 2008, Cole was appointed by the Chief of the Australian Defence Force to head an inquiry into the loss of the cruiser HMAS Sydney in a mutually destructive battle during World War II.

[2] Cole was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2005 for services to the judiciary, particularly judicial administration, to reform of the building and construction industry, and to the community through the Australian Naval Reserve and conservation and arts organisations.