Oscar Allen Wilson was born on 6 February 1924. He grew up on a farm in Kootingal, "Orchard Leigh" in the Tamworth area, New South Wales. He enlisted in the Army on 13 February 1942. He was originally a 'gun-layer' in the Anti-Tank Regiment then, following injury, transferred to the Australian Water Transport and served in New Guinea until 1947, following the end of the war. He completed a number of areas of training, including signalling and engine maintenance, before becoming a Wireless (or Radio) Operator, transferred to Water Ambulance on the ship 'Stradbroke II'. He later became Engineer on the ship, 'Sir John Franklin'. He served in Lae and Bougainville, as well as Manus Island.;;This was a significant period of his life, allowing him to study by correspondence through the Victorian Education Department in preparation for a civil engineering degree at Sydney University.;;Following his graduation, Oscar Wilson was appointed as an engineer with the NSW Department of Main Roads under C. A. Hawkins, chief engineer, before taking up a Federation of British Industries Overseas Scholarship from 1953 to 1955. Wilson then moved to Tasmania to take up an appointment in 1960 as an engineer in the Public Works Department, in charge of the construction of the Murchison Highway. His other appointments in Tasmania included materials and research engineer, road engineer and consulting civil engineer. He retired from his government position at the end of 1982 and went on to work for local government and as a consulting engineer in the private sector. He also taught engineering subjects at the Hobart Technical College in the evenings and was involved in the Legacy and Apex service organisations.;;Oscar Wilson was a member of the Tasmanian Amateur Cine Society for many years, with an interest in film recording, which explains the extensive collection of films deposited in the Tasmanian Archives.;;