Education
Raised largely in Hawea in Central Otago, Wardle attended Waitaki Boys High School and then the University of Otago, where he obtained an Master of Science with first class honours on the vegetation and climate of the Dunedin region, graduating in 1954.
Career
He returned to New Zealand to work at the Forest Service before being recruited by Eric Godley for the Botany Division of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. His scientific strength remained the botany and ecology of the lower South Island, where he had been raised. He died on 6 December 2008 while crossing the Waimakariri River.