Smith died at Creswick on December 5, 1992, when he was shot by a Ballarat policeman outside the Farmers Arms Hotel.

At the time, he was one of Australia's most notorious criminals, although the policeman who killed him was unaware of his identity.

Smith had arrvied in Daylesford earlier that day from Sydney, on the run from police after pulling a gun on security guards, abducting an elderly couple and stealing a car, all to avoid being arrested on shoplifting charges.

He had made his way to the Glenlyon hideout of fellow armed robber Christopher Binse, who was also on the run from police, and Binse's girlfriend Lorna Skellington.

Geelong school teacher Damian Boyle began piecing together Smith's life as a master's thesis shortly after Smith died.

He has now published the work in a biography called Call Me Jimmy.

Boyle's interest was sparked by a letter to a newspaper from Smith's mother, who wanted people to know that although her son was "a bad apple" she had loved him.

"I wanted to know what made a kid go bad when he had such seemingly loving parents," Boyle said.

The author had never met Colac-born Smith, even though they grew up in the same area and were around the same age.

But Boyle said he felt he came to know his subject during the course of his research.

"But I don't have sympathy for him. We all make choices in our life. If we determine that we're going to do the wrong thing, then that's an active choice, irrespective of how fate has dealt the hands," Boyle said.

He did, however, say he felt some empathy.

"I think he was a kid who just didn't know how to get out of trouble. He seemed to attract it."

Boyle said Senior Constable Ian Harris, who is still an officer in Ballarat, had been "very helpful" in his research.

"Ian is a very, very gentle guy and the whole episode took an enormous amount from him."

Call Me Jimmy is published by Floradale Press and retails for $16.95.