Kim Beazley  was born in Perth, Western Australia. He completed a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts at the University of Western Australia. In 1973, he was awarded the Rhodes Scholarship for Western Australia and completed a Masters of Philosophy at Oxford University.

Kim was a Minister in the Hawke and Keating Labor Governments holding, at various times, the portfolios of Defence, Finance, Transport and Communications, Employment Education and Training, Aviation, and Special Minister of State.

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From 1995 to 1996, Kim was Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1996 to 2001, and 2005 to 2006. Kim served on numerous parliamentary committees, including the Joint Intelligence Committee and the Joint Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee.

Retiring from politics in 2007, he was appointed Chancellor of the Australian National University, a position he held until December 2009.

Kim took up an appointment as Ambassador to the United States of America in February 2010, a position he held for six years.

Upon returning to Australia, Kim was appointed as President of the Australian Institute for International Affairs (2016-17), Co-Chairman of the Australian American Leadership Dialogue (2016-18), Distinguished Fellow at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, and a Director and Distinguished Fellow at the Perth USAsia Centre.

In 2018, Kim was nominated as the 33^rd Governor of Western Australia, serving in that role until 2022.

Kim was awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia for service to the Parliament of Australia through contributions to the development of government policies in relation to defence and international relations, and as an advocate for Indigenous people, and to the community.