Born in Melbourne on 28 November 1925, Keith John Austin Asche spent his childhood in Darwin and Melbourne. He served with the RAAF for two years from 1944 to 1946, mostly in the Northern Territory and Northwest Australia and, after the war obtained the degrees of BA, LLM at Melbourne University and practised as a barrister in Queensland and Melbourne. He was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1972.

In 1976, His Honour became a Judge of the Family Court of Australia, and was Acting Chief Judge 1985 to 1986. He was Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge in Victoria from 1984 to 1986 and holds the rank of Past Grand Master in the Victorian and South Australian Constitutions. His Honour was President of RMIT from 1981 to 1983, Chancellor of Deakin University from 1983 to 1987 and Chancellor of the Northern Territory University from 1989 to 1993.

In 1986, he returned to Darwin as a Judge of the Supreme Court of the NT and in 1987 was appointed Chief Justice. In May 1987, His Honour was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Literature, by Deakin University. In 1992 His Honour was made a Fellow of the Australian College of Education and in May 1994, he received an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from the Northern Territory University.

His Honour was appointed as the fifteenth Administrator of the Northern Territory on 1 March 1993, a position he held until 16 February 1997. In addition, he held appointments as Chief Scout in the Northern Territory, Honorary Colonel of the North West Mobile Force, and Deputy Prior in the Northern Territory Order of St John. His Honour was appointed a Knight of Grace of the Order of St John in July 1993, while on Australia Day 1994 he was appointed Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for service to the law, to tertiary education and to the community, particularly the people of the Northern Territory. The Governor-General invested him with the Insignia of these appointments at Government House, Darwin on 17 June 1994.

Keith John Austin Asche married Valerie James in 1958 and they have one son and one daughter. Dr Valerie Asche PR.D was a senior research fellow at the Menzies school of health research in Darwin from 1986 to 1994 and was appointed a Member in the Order of Australia in 2001.

His Honour's recreations include tennis, Australian poetry and literature generally.

His Honour and Dr Asche still reside in Darwin.