 Dunn was born in the small country New South Wales town of Molong on 7 August 1963 and grew up in both Orange and Bathurst.Paul Dunn moved to Sydney at the age of 19 and played a season with Bondi United.In 1983 Dunn began his 1st Grade Career in the NSWRL premiership with Sydney's Eastern Suburbs club, where he played for two years before moving to the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, his most successful club where he played 100 games over 5 years.