Born in Edmundston in 1936, Robert Pichette is the son of the late Honourable J. Albert Pichette, former judge of the Court of Queen's Bench, and his first wife, Mary Ann Duncan of Saint John.

Pichette studied at the Collège de Saint-Laurent in Montreal, then at Collège Saint-Louis in Edmundston. After three years in the Royal Canadian Air Force, he became an announcer at Radio-Canada in Moncton, a reporter for L'évangéline daily newspaper, and an announcer and producer of public and cultural affairs programs at CKCH, Hull and Ottawa from 1960 to 1962.

Pichette was long associated with Premier Louis-J. Robichaud of New Brunswick, first as his Administrative Assistant in 1963, and then as Executive Assistant and Deputy Minister. He was one of the drafters of the Official Languages Act of New Brunswick and co-chair with the late Guy Frégault of the joint commission responsible for implementing the Quebec-New Brunswick Cultural and Technical Agreement. At the same time, he assumed the duties of director of cultural affairs for New Brunswick. In that capacity, he established the New Brunswick government's art bank. Pichette was the Executive Director of the Atlantic Provinces pavilion at Expo'67 in Montreal (1966-67).

He became a federal civil servant in 1971, and held various positions in the public service, including the representative of the Commissioner of Official Languages in the Atlantic Provinces from 1977 to 1983.

After a stint as the first editor of L'Acadie Nouvelle newspaper in Caraquet, New Brunswick, he wrote and hosted several radio and television programs for Société Radio-Canada. He was involved in a number of radio and television public affairs programs and was a collaborator for several newspapers and magazines, including the Revue d'histoire de l'Amérique française, University of Ottawa Quarterly, La Revue de l'Université Sainte-Anne, the journal Heraldry in Canada, and the Cahiers de la Société historique acadienne, of which he was the editor.

A writer and historian, one of his books received the Prix littéraire France-Acadie. Since his retirement from the federal public service, he has been a visiting professor of journalism at the Université de Moncton and a columnist for the Globe and Mail (Toronto), the Telegraph Journal (Saint John), the Ottawa Citizen, and L'Acadie Nouvelle. In 1994, Pichette received a National Newspaper Award in the Columns category.

A specialist in heraldry, Pichette was president of the Royal Heraldry Society of Canada from 1975 to 1977; he sits as a member of the International Academy of Heraldry. He designed the New Brunswick flag adopted in 1965.

Columnist, author, historian, heraldry expert, political adviser, and civil servant, Robert Pichette received the Order of New Brunswick in 2006 in recognition of his service to his community, his province, and his country.

Honours and awards

• 2016 Officer of the France's National Order of the Légion d'honneur
• 2014 Fellow of the Royal Heraldry Society of Canada
• 2014 Honorary Doctorate in Public Administration by the Université de Moncton
• 2012 Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee Medal
• 2004 Officer of France's National Order of Merit
• 2006 Order of New Brunswick
• 2002 Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee Medal
• 2001 Knight of the Order of La Pléiade [Francophonie Parliamentarians]
• 2000 Commander of the Most Venerable Order of Saint John of Jerusalem
• 1998 Doctor of Letters, honoris causa, Université Sainte-Anne in Nova Scotia
• 1995 Dauphin Herald Extraordinary, Canadian Heraldic Authority
• 1992 Canada 125 Medal
• 1985 Knight of France's Order of Arts and Letters
• 1984 Knight of France's Order of Les Palmes Académiques
• 1970 Knight Grand Cross in Obedience of the Sovereign Order of Malta
• 1967 Canada Centennial Medal
• Vice-President of the Canadian Association of the National Order of Merit