Cullen graduated from the City Art Institute with a Diploma of Professional Art in 1987 and received a Master of Fine Arts from the University of New South Wales in 1999.
Cullen was a finalist many times over in the Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, in 2000 he won the Archibald with his composition Portrait of David Wenham 2000. This success was followed by winning the Mosman Art Prize in 2005 and the 2008 Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize with Pegasus Flying over Sydney 2008.
In mid 2008, Cullen's work was the subject of a major survey exhibition, ADAM CULLEN. LET'S GET LOST, curated by the Art Gallery of New South Wales and was accompanied by a major catalogue published by the gallery. The Cullen Hotel in Prahran, opened in Melbourne November 2009 and remains an ongoing tribute to the artist's work with paintings and archival pigment prints of works from his many exhibitions adorn the guest rooms and foyers. Sadly the artist died at home in the Blue Mountains on 28 July 2012.