His father, Tom Gilmore Sr., had been a federal and state Country Party politician.

In 1986 he was elected as the National Party member for Tablelands in the Queensland Legislative Assembly.

[4][6] In October 2019 he announced his retirement as Mayor of Mareeba at the 2020 local government elections.

He donated his body to the Human Bequest Program at James Cook University.

[7][8][9] Gilmore was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia on 8 June 2020 for services to the Parliament and people of Queensland.