Foley competed in the springboard and platform events at the 1976, 1980 and 1984 Olympics. In the Commonwealth Games he won silver medals in both events at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, and also competed in 1978 and 1986. He retired after the 1986 games, but remained involved in the sport as a coach. He was Australia's head diving coach at the 1988 Olympics but switched to work for the British diving team in 1999. In 2008 he was appointed as the high performance director by USA Diving.