William M. Woollett was born in Albany and after attending R.P.I. he went on to M.I.T. where he was awarded high honors at graduation in 1870. Back in Albany he joined his fathers practice, and assumed full charge of the office after his fathers death.

In his brief ten year career, William attracted national attention through the wide publication of his designs. He published two influential books - Villas and Cottages or Homes for All (1876) with plans, elevations and views of twelve villas and ten cottages, and Old Homes Made New (1878) showing modernisation of older houses to 1870's styles. A number of his designs for town houses, store fronts, cottages, villas (including one under construction in central new York State), and architectural details were included in A.J. Bicknell's Wooden and Brick Buildings With Details (1875), and two of his three houses on Englewood Place in Albany were published in the American Architect and Building News in 1879.