Richard Valentine Keane was born in 1882 in Beechworth, Victoria and educated at St Kilda's Christian Brothers College. In 1897 he joined the Accounting Branch of the Victorian Railways. He became active in the Australian Railwaymen's Union and held several senior union executive positions. At the time of his election to Commonwealth Parliament he was the ARU's Federal Secretary.  

In 1925 Keane contested the South Melbourne seat of the Victorian Legislative Council but was defeated. The same year he was also defeated in the Senate election for the Federal Parliament. In 1929 Keane became Member for Bendigo in the House of Representatives, representing the Australian Labor Party. However, he lost his seat in 1931. He was unsuccessful again in another bid for the seat of Bendigo in 1934. Keane was later President of the Victorian Australian Labor Party (1937-38) and appears, in this period, to have also been on the Federal Arbitration Committee of the Australian Council of Trade Unions.

In October 1937 Keane was elected Senator for Victoria, taking his seat on 1 July 1938. He immediately became Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate (1938-41) and Temporary Chairman of Committees (1938-40). In the Curtin Government, Keane was Minister for Trade and Customs (1941-46), a member of the Joint Committee on Social Security (1941), Vice President of the Federal Executive Council (1941-43), a member of the Production Executive (1942-46), a member of the Joint Committee on Income Tax on Current Income (1943-44), Leader of the Government in the Senate (1943-46) and Chairman of the Export Committee (1944-46). 

In 1944 Keane visited America and Canada for the Commonwealth Government. The following year, for a time, he acted as Minister of Health and as Minister of Social Services. In March 1946 Keane was sent on a further mission to America concerning lend lease and overseas trade, but died in Washington on 26 April 1946.

Sources:
Commonwealth Parliamentary Handbook, 11th ed, 1945-53
Who's Who in Australia 1944