Born in 1957, Nigel grew up in Wellington. Nigel has been a full time artist since leaving a teaching profession at Cargill High School, Invercargill, in 1997. He has a fine arts degree from Ilam university
of Canterbury where he was tutored under Don Pebbles. Since then, he has exhibited regularly winning a number of painting awards, is well represented in public and private collections throughout New Zealand and has 27 solo exhibitions to his name.

In the year 2000 Nigel moved to Alexandra, where he continues to boldly paint the Otago landscape.
He was appointed president of the Central Otago Art Society in 2008 and 2009.

In describing Nigel's work a critic wrote positively about an exhibition:

"Nigel Wilson's work captures the raw, natural beauty and distinct character of New Zealand's southern landscapes through expressive, impassioned brushwork and vibrant, descriptive colour. From a distance Wilson's works provide an imposing scene, but up close, they are even more arresting. Oil paint has been applied with variety, energy and certainty, with each stoke having a compelling autonomy."

'My landscape work attempts to capture the raw natural beauty and distinct character of Central Otago through expressive, impassioned brushwork and vibrant, descriptive colour. From a distance my work should provide imposing scenes, but up close they are more arresting: oil paint has been applied with variety, energy and certainty with each brush stroke having a compelling autonomy.'