Amulree was the son of Robert (Robin) Mackenzie, of Scone, Perthshire, and Jean, daughter of Basil Menzies.

He was promoted within the Order of the British Empire to be a Knight Grand Cross (GBE).

[3] In 1929 Mackenzie was raised to the peerage as Baron Amulree, of Strathbraan in the County of Perth,[4] giving him a seat in the House of Lords and the possibility of joining the government.

In October 1930, he was appointed as Secretary of State for Air[5] in Ramsay MacDonald's second Labour government, succeeding the deceased Lord Thomson, with a seat in the cabinet, and at the same time was sworn into the Privy Council.

Amulree died in May 1942, aged 81, and was succeeded in the barony by his son Basil, who became a distinguished physician.