[3] David Wilson grew up in Dunedin and was educated at St Pauls High School[citation needed] and the University of Otago, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (with Honours, majoring in History) degree in 1991 and a Master of Arts (History) in 1993.

[4] While working in Wellington he continued his studies at Massey University, graduating with a Master of Management degree in 2004.

[citation needed] He left the Office of the Clerk of the House in July 1999 to become a Senior Policy Analyst with the Department for Courts.

[7] On 10 December 2024 Wilson, in his capacity as Clerk of the New Zealand House of Representatives, advised Assistant Speaker Barbara Kuriger that the listing of projects under the Fast-track Approvals Bill benefitted specific people and should thus be classified as private legislation and removed from the final version of the Bill.

The Sixth National Government disagreed and recalled Speaker Gerry Brownlee who overruled Kuriger and resintated the list.