[1][2] Willcox was born and grew up in Bowen, Queensland, as a third-generation tomato farmer.

[3][4] Willcox elected on to the Whitsunday Regional Council as a Division 6 councillor in 2012.

[3] He was subsequently elected as the mayor of the Whitsunday Regional Council in 2016, and was re-elected to the same position in April 2020.

[5][6][7] In August 2021, Willcox was selected as a Liberal National Party candidate for the division of Dawson.

[8] In April 2022, he took leave from his mayoralty role to contest the 2022 federal election.