The son of a clergyman, Henry, or 'Harry' as he was otherwise known, trained at the Kidderminster school of Art and then articled to a Maidenhead architect.
From 1890 Wilson took a particular interest in t design and manufacture of metalwork, setting up his own workshop around 1895 and teaching under the supervision of William Lethaby an English architect and architectural historian whose ideas were highly influential on the Arts and Crafts and early Modern movements in architecture, and in the fields of conservation and art education and George Frampton at the Central School of Art Crafts from 1896 and then teaching at the Royal College of Art in 1901. He joined the Art Worker's Guild in 1902 and became its master in 1917.

Wilson exhibited his metal work designs at the Arts & Crafts exhibition from 1889 that used a combination of Byzantine and late-Gothic forms. His 1903 book "Silverwork and Jewellery" was one of the artistic crafts series edited by William Lethaby, its second edition included sections on Japanese and Indian design techniques. Wilson also designed furniture for Charles Trask & Co, fireplaces for Longden & Co, and in 1905, the bronze doors of the cathedral of St John the Divine, New York. In 1896 he was the first editor of the Architectural Review. In 1898 he was responsible for organising the Burlington House arts & Crafts Exhibition. Wilson went into exile in France in 1922.

Wilson's contribution to wallpaper design has until now been regarded as minimal, with existing literature suggesting that "Tree", is his only wallpaper design. However two additional wallpaper designs by him were produced by Hayward & Sons in 1889 and exhibited at the Arts & crafts exhibition in that year.