Wylie was born in Norwich, Ohio, and grew up in Pataskala, a small community east of Columbus.

Wylie enlisted in the United States Army as a private, and eventually attaining the rank of first lieutenant while serving with the 30th Infantry Division in Europe during World War II.

He was: In addition to his public service, Wylie worked in private practice as an attorney from 1957 until 1968, which he resumed in Columbus after leaving Congress until his death there.

In 1981, Republican Senator Mack Mattingly had unsuccessfully attempted to remove sections of Playboy Magazine's braille edition, which was produced using federal funds through the Library of Congress.

During appropriations discussions in July 1985, Wylie successfully passed a motion in the House to reduce the budget of the Library of Congress by $103,000, which was the exact amount it cost to produce the braille edition of Playboy, subsequently leading to the discontinuation of the magazine.