He grew up in South London, where he attended Emanuel School, going on to read English at King's College, Cambridge.
He is an advocate for the work of the Victorian critic, artist, philanthropist and social reformer John Ruskin.
[6] Since 1995, he has been a Companion of the Guild of St George, the charity for arts, crafts and the rural economy, founded by Ruskin.
Together they have published seven books of Hungarian poetry, including Miklós Radnóti, György Petri, János Pilinszky and Gömöri himself, as well as pieces by several others.
[8] He has contributed poems and articles to a wide range of newspapers and periodicals, including the Times Literary Supplement, PN Review and The London Magazine.
These include, at Sidney Sussex College in 2011, a conference for the quatercentenary of the King James Bible, and at the Museo Correr, Venice, in 2018, a symposium on Ruskin and Venice to accompany the exhibition John Ruskin: Le pietri di Venezia at the Ducal Palace there.
Among contemporary writers, Wilmer has written on the work of the poets Thom Gunn and Donald Davie and has edited volumes of their essays.