 Upon graduating, Lavery worked first as a teacher, then in the printing industry, before gradually fulfilling his interest in maritime heritage as an author, consultant, and curator, building a solid reputation as a highly respected authority in the field.He worked at Chatham Historic Dockyard on the Wooden Walls exhibition.During 14 years in the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich he developed the modern collecting policy and worked on numerous exhibitions such as "Seapower", "All Hands", and several of the galleries in the Neptune Court development.