He served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War, after which he pursued a medical career in London and later High Wycombe.

Wilkinson's mother, Muriel, a concert pianist,[1] became director of the Institute of Atomic Information for the Layman and was an early "nuclear" enthusiast.

He was educated at Epsom College, where initially he studied classics, achieved the status of prefect and won the Claude Calthrop Essay, Botany and Carr Divinity Prizes.

[1][3] Almost as soon as he qualified, Wilkinson was sent to serve in the Royal Naval Reserve (RNVR ) and was subsequently posted to Alexandria, Egypt, by the Special Operations Executive (S.O.E.).

Parachuted into northern Greece, he completed most of his three years during World War II in the Greek mountains and islands behind enemy lines.

[3] Describing his medical career as a "voyage", Wilkinson, at St Thomas' Hospital undertook speciality training in dermatology under Geoffrey Dowling and Hugh Wallace.

Wilkinson received the British Association of Dermatologists' highest award, the Sir Archibald Gray medal in 1984.