Tony Browne entered the New Zealand Foreign Ministry in 1973. He served in Hong Kong, Taipei and Beijing and was New Zealand Ambassador to China from 2004 to 2009.

After his retirement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 2011 he moved to Victoria University of Wellington as Chair of the Confucius Institute at VUW and as Executive Chair of the New Zealand Contemporary China Research Centre, New Zealand's national research centre on China.

He is a member of the Executive Board of the New Zealand China Council and Deputy Chair of New Zealand Chinese Language Week. He is also a Senior Consultant to the Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban) in Beijing.