Gordon Adam went to Carlisle Grammar School and the University of Leeds, from which he obtained a Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees. After becoming a Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1953, he joined the National Coal Board as a mining engineer in 1959. Adam later became a Charted Engineer member of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining. Adam was the Labour Party candidate for the Tynemouth constituency in the 1966 and 1974 General Elections.
In 1979 Adam was elected as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Northumbria on the Labour Party ticket, thereby becoming a member of the Group of the Party of European Socialists in the European Parliament. He was nominated Vice-Chairman of the Energy, Research and Technology Committee of the Parliament in 1984, other positions he held in European Parliament Committees were, Committee on Budgets, Substitute, Committee on Fisheries, Member, Delegation for Relations with Russia, Member (1994), Delegation to the EU-Lithuania Joint Parliamentary Committee, Substitute. Adam retired from the European Parliament at the 2004 election.