He is best known for the international bestseller, The Headmaster's Wife, which both Library Journal and Publishers Weekly called "brilliant."
He earned his BA in English from Hobart College in Geneva, New York, where he was the Milton Haight Turk Scholar.
He is the founder and founding president emeritus of Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA), a graduate fine-arts college in Montpelier, Vermont, with degrees in visual art, writing, writing for children and young adults, graphic design, music composition, film, writing & publishing, and art & design education.
Prior to founding VCFA, Greene had a long career as a higher education administrator, working as a member of the leadership team at Norwich University, as an admissions and marketing professional, as the director of public affairs for two universities, as a professor of writing and literature, and as the director of a graduate program.
[citation needed] He has also worked as an oyster shucker, delivered pizza, on the line in a staple factory, and as a deputy press secretary for a presidential campaign.