Tony Allison was born in Flin Flon, Manitoba, in 1946. In 1966, he went to London, England, to study at the Sir John Cass School of Arts and Crafts. When he returned to Canada in 1967, he majored in art at the University of Manitoba and later attended the Banff School of Fine Art. As a freelance artist, he has received commissions for many murals, portraits and drawings. He has taught classes and held administrative positions such as Art Director for the Federal Government project "Cultural Horizons" in Winnipeg. For a time, he was artist in residence in the West Norman Region of Manitoba. He was the artist selected from Western Canada to exhibit at the International Concours de la Palme D' or Drawing Exhibition at Monte Carlo and was awarded a Manisphere Senior Scholarship Award. He was a member of the Flin Flon Arts Council and the Precambrian Arts Council.
