Andrew Barton Paterson, the author of Walzing Matilda, is one of the most famous Australian writers. He is known for his poems and stories about the Australian Outback. He wrote about beauty of Australian bush. Another very known poem by Andrew Patterson is "The man from Snowy River". He was also a lawyer, a journalist, a soldier and an excellent horseman.

Andrew Barton Paterson was born on the 17th February 1864 at Narambla, near the town of Orange in New South Wales, to Andrew and Rose Patersons. He had six siblings but much younger then him. He felt a bit lonely because of that. He spent most of his childhood on his family property in Illalong in NSW. His father was a horseman and Andrew has inherited his love for horses from him. The property was on the main route between Sydney and Melbourne, so young Andrew could observe and meet exciting and fascinating bush characters.

At the age of ten he was sent to live in Sydney to further his education at a very good school - Sydney Boys Grammar School. He lived with his grandmother who was a poet and encouraged her grandson to write, too.In 1880, at the age of 16, he decided to pursue a legal career and became an article clerk. On the 28th of August 1886 he was accepted to the Roll of Solicitors, later becoming managing clerk and then a partner in the firm, Street and Paterson. However he loved coming back to his homestead and the bush often going camping with his cousins.

His first poem 'Clancy of the Overflow' was published in "The Bulletin" under a pen name " Banjo". He chose this pseudonym after his favourite horse. In 1895 Banjo published his first book "The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses".

In the same year, in January, he wrote Walzing Matilda while in Western Queensland, during his visit to old Dagworth station. This song was written to a Scottish tune played by his friend Christina Macpherson.

Banjo Paterson worked for the Sydney Morning Herald and became a journalist and war correspondent during the Boer War in 1899, and the Boxer Rebellion in China, in 1901.
During 1902 he met and married Alice Walker. They had two children.
In 1904 he became the editor of the Sydney Evening News. In 1916, he took a commission in the Australian Remount Service in Egypt, where he did great work for the Australian cavalry and rose to the rank of major.

Paterson returned to journalism in 1921, editing the Sydney Sportsman. He later resigned from the Sportsman editorship in 1930 and worked as a freelance journalist for Smith's Weekly for several years.
In 1939, Paterson was appointed a 'Commander of the British Empire' for his contribution to Australian literature. After a short illness, 'Banjo' died on 5 February 1941 at the age of 77.