She was educated at Sevenoaks School (Sixth Form) and attended Downing College, Cambridge, where she gained an MA in law.

Wilson joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1995 and served in Beijing, Brussels and Moscow in various posts.

[2] She appeared in a 2018 BBC documentary titled Inside the Foreign Office, which saw her accompany then-Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on diplomatic engagements in Europe.

[5] In November 2021, The Times and other newspapers reported "a row" between British foreign secretary Liz Truss and Wilson relating to a letter Wilson had sent to National Security Council members about relations with the Chinese government, questioning Truss's hawkish stance against China.

[6] In addition to her native English, Wilson speaks French, German, Russian, Mandarin Chinese, and Cantonese.