McGoldrick was born in Ballarat. He graduated from the Australian National University.[1]
In the late 1970s, McGoldrick was a first assistance secretary in the Department of Overseas Trade.[2] In 1980, McGoldrick was appointed Senior Trade Commissioner in Brussels.[3]
Between 1985 and 1988, McGoldrick was Australia's Ambassador to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris.[4] He took up an appointment as Ambassador to Saudi Arabia in 1988.[5] His posting in Riyadh until 1991 included the duration of the Gulf War.[6][7] In 1989 McGoldrick took part in negotiations regarding the live export trade after Saudi Arabia rejected five shiploads of Australian live sheep.[8]
McGoldrick self-published his book A Memoir of Arabia in 2010. The book offers an account of the time he spent in the Middle East during the Gulf War.[9] In 2011 it was highly commended by judges for the ACT Writers Centre awards.[10]
