William Turnbull was born in Dundee, Scotland, in 1922, Turnbull joined the Royal Air Force in 1941, serving as a pilot during the Second World War. Between 1946 and 1948 he studied at the Slade School of Fine Art in London and then spent two years living in Paris, where he met Brancusi and Giacometti.

He returned to London, and his first one-man exhibition was held at the Hanover Gallery, London (1950). He represented Britain in a group exhibition at the Venice Biennale (1952) and has exhibited in many solo and group exhibitions both in Britain and internationally. In 1973, a retrospective exhibition of his work was held at the Tate Gallery, London, and in 1982 he took part in 'British Sculpture in the Twentieth century' at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, London.

He had a retrospective at the Serpentine Gallery, London (1995-96) and major solo exhibition at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park (2005).