He obtained his undergraduate degree in international relations from the University of Southern California in 1960, where he was a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity.
From 1963 to 1969 he chaired a non-partisan White House youth program under both the Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard M. Nixon administrations, during which time he worked on a master's degree in international relations at Georgetown University.
Allison returned to the University of Southern California in 1973 to obtain two master's degrees (in cinema production and professional writing) and a Ph.D. in Philosophy.
He worked continuously on a number of studio films in the U.S. and abroad, and also wrote and produced The First Olympics: Athens 1896 (1984), a TV mini-series for Columbia Pictures Television.
The mini-series aired on NBC in 1984, and depicts the adventures of the United States' first Olympic team at the Athens 1896 Games.