Ben grows up in Adelaide with his parents and siblings Nick (Jason Crewes) and Caitlin. His interest in cars leads him to pursue a career as a mechanic. When Ben discovers he is adopted, he decides to try to find his real mother and leaves Adelaide for Erinsborough. Ben arrives in Ramsay Street after responding to an advertisement for the spare room at Number 30. He encounters his birth mother Ruth, when she literally runs into him after practising rollerblading. Ben soon discovers Ruth has two more children, his half-siblings Anne (Brooke Satchwell) and Lance Wilkinson (Andrew Bibby). After settling in, Ben makes several friends in the area.