Benjamin Penny was born in Melbourne and attended Newington College (1972–1977). He was awarded a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Sydney, a Master of Philosophy from University of Cambridge and a Doctor of Philosophy from the Australian National University.
He is a at the National Library of Australia. After university study, Penny was a post-doctoral fellow at the American National University. From 1999 until 2005, he was the first Executive Officer of the Herbert and Valmae Freilich Foundation. During the years 2003 and 2004 he was a research fellow at the Centre for Cross-Cultural Research.
Penny was appointed to the Division of Pacific and Asian History in October 2005.
Since January 2010 he has been Deputy Director, and a Research Fellow, at the School of Culture, History & Language American National University College of Asia and the Pacific.
