John Scott Williams was born in Everton, Liverpool, England in 1877. By 1885 he had moved to the United States. Williams studied at the Art Institute of Chicago while working as a photographic retoucher and a commercial artist. He worked as an illustrator for publications such as the New York Herald Tribune, the Saturday Evening Post, Redbook, Collier's, and the Ladies' Home Journal.

For nearly 25 years Williams was married to fellow artist Clara Elsene Peck, known for her illustrations of women and children. The two collaborated often before their divorce in 1930.

Williams also worked as a stained glass and mural artist. Some of his most notable pieces can be found at the Indiana State Library, the library at the University in Illinois, and the King Memorial Main Reading Room and the Gilman Memorial at Johns Hopkins University.