Roland Wilson was born on 7 April 1904 at Ulverstone, Tasmania and educated at Devonport High School, University of Tasmania, Oxford University and the University of Chicago, USA. He was a Rhodes Scholar for Tasmania in 1925, received a Bachelor of Commerce in 1926 and a Doctorate in Philosophy at Oxford in 1929 for his thesis on the import of capital. His other educational qualifications include a Diploma in Economics and Political Science, a Doctorate in Philosophy from Chicago University, an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Tasmania and Honorary Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia.  

His Commonwealth Public Service career began in 1932 when he joined the Department of the Treasury [I] in the Economist Statistician's Branch, and then became Commonwealth Statistician and Economic Adviser to the Treasury from 1936 to 1940. He was involved in the
establishment and direction of the now defunct Department of Labour and National Service between 1940 and 1946, and from 1946 to 1951 was again Commonwealth Statistician and Economic Adviser to the Treasury. During 1948 and 1949 he was Chairman of the Economic and Employment Commission of the United Nations. In 1951 he was appointed Secretary of the Commonwealth Treasury, a position he held until he left the Public Service in 1966.
 
During this association with the Commonwealth, Roland Wilson was created a Knight Bachelor (Kt) in 1955 and a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 1965.
 
Sir Roland later went on to become Chairman of Qantas Airways (1966-73), the Qantas Wentworth Hotel Ltd (1966-75) and the
Commonwealth Banking Corporation (1966-75) until his retirement in 1975.
 
Source: 
Who's Who in Australia, 1991, p.1245