Trezise was born in Tallangatta (northern Victoria), of Cornish descent,Payton, Philip, Making Moonta: The Invention of Australia's Little Cornwall and attaended a bush school followed by Albury Highschool. His interest in Aboriginal people began when he won a copy of the Red Centre written by Findlayson during his years at highschool. During World War II Trezise served in the Royal Australian Air Force, surviving the crash of a Wackett trainer in August 1942. From 1956 he worked in northern Australia as an airline pilot for Ansett and the Cairns Aerial Ambulance. From the air he learned to identify areas likely to contain Aboriginal rock art, which he subsequently explored on foot. During the 1960s he regularly overflew Dunk Island attempting to locate the Aboriginal galleries mentioned by E. J. Banfield in his 'Confessions of a Beachcomber' (1908) and later walked in to find them based on his aerial observations.
In 1996 he was made a member of the Order of Australia. In 2004, he received an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from James Cook University, in recognition of outstanding service to the community of far north Queensland.
Members of Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Maori communities are advised that this catalogue contains names and images of deceased people. All users of the catalogue should also be aware that certain words, terms or descriptions may be culturally sensitive and may be considered inappropriate today, but may have reflected the author's/creator's attitude or that of the period in which they were written.