Born in Richmond, North Yorkshire, Keith studied fine art at West Surrey College of Art and Design before qualifying as a paper conservator at Camberwell School of Art and Crafts. In 1977 he was visiting professor on the conservation programme run by New York State University, where he taught conservation studies at postgraduate level. He is a fellow of the International Institute of Conservation and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He divides his time between work as a practising artist, a freelance conservator and the renovation of a disused chapel/boathouse where he lives with two Bengal cats. In the 1970’s and ‘80s Keith ran his own Private Press, producing limited edition books which he printed and illustrated and bound by hand.

His work can be found at the British library, Trinity College Dublin, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Science Museum, the Painter-Stainers Company and many private collections.