Richard moved to takeup the world's first chair in Clinical Gait Analysis in February 2010 after spending the last nine years at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, Australia. his first degree was in physics from Cambridge and his PhD in biomechanics from Dundee. He spent 7 years managing the Gait Analysis Service at the Musgrave Park Hospital in Belfast before moving to a similar role in Mebourne. Between 2005 and 2009 he was the Director of the Centre for Clinical Research Excellence in Clinical Gait Analysis and Gait Rehabilitation (the Gait CCRE) at the Murdoch Children's Research Insitute (MCRI) in Melbourne. he still holds honorary appointments with the MCRI, the University of Melbourne and La Trobe University.

Ricard is best known for his work in the methodology of Clinical Gait Analysis is frequently invited to give keynote presentation to international conferences. He delivered the Bauman Lecture at the first joint meeting of the European Society for Movement Analysis in Adults and Children and the Gait and Clinical Movement Analysis Society. He has published over 60 articles in the leading peer review journals in the field.