Nadia was born in Sydney and brought up as a foster child, spending most of her youth in the Strathfield area and attending Meriden School. She began an Arts Degree at the University of Sydney in 1966, intending to major in English, but she changed to History and graduated with Honours in 1970. She later graduated from Macquarie University with an MA Honours degree.

In 1975, Wheatley went to Greece to live, with her then boyfriend, poet Martin Johnston, son of Australian writers George Johnston and Charmian Clift. It was here that she began to write seriously. They lived on both Crete and Astros, and had a routine of writing six days a week. In 1977, they went to London via Yugoslavia, and over the next year they visited Ireland, England and Scotland, before going back to Greece, and then returning to Australia in 1978. On her return to Australia, she lived in Newtown.

Wheatley's first book was Five Times Dizzy. Published in 1983, it was a critical success, and garnered many literary commendations and awards. Since then she has written many children's fiction and non-fiction books, most of them being shortlisted for and, often, winning awards.

She also wrote a biography of Charmian Clift (2002) which won that year's Premier's reading challenge at the New South Wales Premier's History Awards. In 2006, she was a judge for these awards. She was also, in 2006, the University of Canberra's May Gibbs Fellow.

Increasingly, Wheatley has become involved in programs which further social, cultural and environmental awareness, particularly in children. She and Ken Searle took part in the Australian Society of Authors funded mentorship program for Indigenous writers. The result of their involvement was Mary Malbunka’s children’s book When I was Little, Like You (2003, Allen & Unwin).

Nadia's book, Going Bush, grew out of a Harmony Day project developed in 2003 by eight inner-Sydney city schools. The initial plan was to break down barriers between the communities but it developed into a larger project which included learning about the environment, Indigenous culture, and living in multicultural communities, and involved sixteen Muslim, Catholic and government schools. In 2005 Nadia Wheatley and Ken Searle were invited by the committee to work with the children on "the theme of freedom". Wheatley and Searle used an educational model they had developed with others in the 1990s at Papunya School in Central Australia which "puts country at the core of the curriculum". The result was the book, Going Bush, which captures what the children learnt through exploring a section of urban bushland along Wolli Creek.

Five Times Dizzy

• 1983: New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Special Children's Book Award
• 1983: Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year for Older Readers. Highly Commended
• 1983: International Board on Books for Young People. Honorary Diploma
• 1987: AWGIE Awards for Best Adaptation, Children's Television Drama (television mini-series)

Dancing in the Anzac Deli

• 1984: Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year for Older Readers. Commended
• 1985: International Board on Books for Young People. Honorary Diploma

The House that was Eureka

• 1984: The Australian/Vogel Literary Award. Shortlisted
• 1985: New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Children's Book Award
• 1985: Children's Council of Australia Book of the Year for Older Readers. Commended

My Place

• 1988: Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year for Younger Readers
• 1988: Eve Pownall Award for Non-fiction
• 1988: KOALA
• 1988: White Raven Award Award
• 1988: Listed US Library Best Books for Young People
• 1990: YABBA
• 1990: International Board on Books for Young People. Honorary Diploma

Lucy in the Leap Year

• 1994: Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year for Younger Readers
• 1994: New South Wales Ministry for the Arts Awards. Shortlisted
• 1994: Multicultural Award. Shortlisted

The Night Tolkien Died

• 1995: Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year for Older Readers. Honour Book

Highway

• 1999: Children's Book Council of Australia. Honour Book

Papunya School Book of Country and History

• 2002: Children's Book Council of Australia. Shortlisted

The Life and Myth of Charmian Clift

• 2002: New South Wales Premier's History Awards Premier's Australian History Prize

Going Bush

• 2007: Australian Awards for Excellence in Educational Publishing. Shortlisted

Children’s

• Five times dizzy (1982 , Oxford University Press)
• Dancing in the Anzac Deli (1984, Oxford University Press)
• The House that was Eureka (1985, Viking Kestrel)
• 1 is for One (illus. Helen Leitch, 1986, Oxford University Press)
• My Place (illus. Donna Rawlins, 1987, Collins Dove)
• The blooding (1987, Viking Kestrel)
• Adolescents and family problems: books for young people (1988, Australian Institute of Family Studies)
• Children and family problems: books for young children (1988, Australian Institute of Family Studies)
• Lucy in the Leap Year (1993, Omnibus)
• The Night Tolkien Died (1994, Random House)
• The Greatest Treasure of Charlemagne the King (illus. Deborah Klein, 1997)
• Highway (illus. Andrew McLean, 1998)
• Luke's Way of Looking (illus. Matt Ottley, 1999)
• Vigil (2000, Viking)
• Papunya School Book of Country and History (2002, illus, Ken Searle; in collaboration with Anangu staff and students, Papunya School)
• A Banner Bold: The Diary of Rosa Aarons, Ballarat goldfield, 1854 (2000, Scholastic)
• Listening to Mondrian (2006, Allen and Unwin)
• Going Bush (illus. Ken Searle, 2007, Allen and Unwin)

Adult

• The Life and Myth of Charmian Clift (2001, HarperCollinsPublishers)

Scripts

• Charmian Clift and George Johnston (radio documentary), with Garry Kinnane, Radio Helicon, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 1985
• Five times dizzy (12-part television mini-series) with Terry Larsen, Samson Productions/Special Broadcasting Service, 1986.