Charles Martin Wilson was born in Glasgow on 18 August 1935,[1][2] and educated at Eastbank Academy in the east end of the city.
[3] Having begun his career as a reporter for the News Chronicle and the Daily Mail, Wilson subsequently edited the Glasgow Evening Times, The Glasgow Herald and The Scottish Sunday Standard from 1976 to 1982, before moving to London to work as deputy editor (1982–1985) and editor (1985–1990) of The Times.
[3] Once a Royal Marines boxing champion, he was feared but respected by many of those who worked for him, among them Matthew Parris, who cites him as an inspiration.
[4] American-born author Bill Bryson, who worked at the Times during Wilson's ascension to editor, described him as "a terrifying Scotsman and a Murdoch man through and through".
Wilson was the senior non-executive director of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, where he made significant steps in assuring corporate governance.