Palmer was born near Thames in the Coromandel, New Zealand and studied at Dunedin Technical College in the late 1950s.
[3] Palmer has had regular and numerous one-man exhibitions at leading galleries in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.
[12][13][14][15] In the 2001 Queen's Birthday Honours, Palmer was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to fine art.
[19] Stanley Palmer was surprised to find out that he was named as a donor to the Labour party in 2017 as a result of a donation behind an "over-inflated" art auction.
Stanley Palmer said "he was unaware he had been listed as a big party donor, but wasn't concerned by the disclosure".