[1] During World War II, he was commissioned in the Intelligence Corps and joined the diplomatic service as an Attaché de Presse in the British embassies of Baghdad and Cairo.
After he returned to England in 1976, Tollast divided his time among Switzerland, France (Paris) and Italy (Milan and Florence) and Austria (Vienna) with occasional visits to Germany.
During long visits to South Africa, he painted three generations of the Oppenheimer family, among other prominent figures in industry.
[2] The list of Tollast's most interesting portrait commissions includes clients internationally prominent in the arts, sciences, industry and politics, of which one of the most notable is that of Sir Winston Churchill.
[citation needed] At the time of his death, Tollast was royal court painter to the Habsburg family of Austria.