After graduating, Wilson worked for the United States government and later a firm located in Washington, D.C. that specialized in international law.
Wilson specifically worked in Eon Productions' legal department until taking on a more active role as an assistant to Cubby Broccoli for the film The Spy Who Loved Me (1977).
In 1989, Wilson was forced to finish the screenplay to Licence to Kill alone[15] due to a strike by the Writers Guild of America West which prevented Maibaum from having any further involvement.
For both, this was their final James Bond script, as Maibaum died in 1991 and Wilson ceased writing, although he outlined a never-produced film in the series with writer Alfonse Ruggiero, scrapped due to internal legal issues[16] between Eon and MGM (the following film, GoldenEye, being a completely different story written by Michael France).
In addition to his production duties, Wilson has also made many cameo appearances (speaking and non-speaking) in the Bond films.