Barrie has a long history of involvement in the areas of career development, lifelong learning and innovative ways of learning.

He set up the Counselling and Career Development Unit at Leeds University in 1976 and then went on to found Lifeskills International. He has written 22 books including the best selling Lifeskills Teaching Programmes and Build Your Own Rainbow, which are still widely used by guidance practitioners and teachers.

Barrie has worked widely as a consultant to industrial and educational organisations in the UK, USA and Europe. He was responsible for setting up the first career counselling service in British Industry in 1970 (at ICI) and has since helped a number of organisations in different countries to set up management and employee development systems. He is a professional Associate of the National Training Laboratories for Applied Behavioural Science in Washington DC, a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and a Fellow of the British Institute of Management.