Samuel (Sammy) Wilson was born in Belfast on 4 April 1953 to Alexander and Mary Wilson. He was educated at Methodist College Belfast and Queen's University. Wilson taught Economics at Grosvenor Grammar School.

Wilson was elected to Belfast City Council in 1981 and represented the Democratic Unionist Party. He served on Council until 2010 and was Lord Mayor in 1986 and 2000.

In 1998, Wilson was elected as a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for East Belfast. He was subsequently returned in 2003, 2007 and 2011 for the East Antrim Constituency. He was appointed as Environment Minister in 2008 and served as Finance Minister from 2009 to 2013.

Wilson was elected as MP for East Antrim in 2005. He stood down as an assembly member in 2015.