Following formal studies at the Kansas City Art Institute, the University of New Mexico, the Universta Per Straniere (Perugia, Italy), and the Los Angeles Art Center College of Design, William Hook embarked on a sixteen year advertising career that took him from Los Angeles to Albuquerque to Denver. From 1975 to 1987, Hook led his own Denver advertising agency to numerous national awards from design.

In 1987, William Hook left the commercial field and began to devote his full energies to fine art. In New Mexico, the artist was influenced by the works of Taos painters Victor Higgins and E. Martin Hennings and the bold, abstract color compositions of Richard Diebenkorn, an alumnus and guest lecturer at the University of New Mexico. Today his frequent field trips along the back roads of Colorado and wooded trails of Northern New Mexico have begun to produce small plein aire studies that are eagerly sought by collectors.

As a child, William Hook traveled extensively with his family in Europe and as an adult he continues to seek the mysteries and drama of light patterns on the architectural and landscape of the west, southwest, and southeast.

The artists work has been featured in U.S. Art Magazine, American Artist, Southwest Art, Focus Santa Fe, and Art of the West.

In 1996, William Hook was named Acrylic Artist of the Year by the National Academy of Design. He has also been featured in four major books on acrylic painting.