Tim Williams gained his BA at the University of Leicester in 1980. He was a seasonal site supervisor at Phil Barker’s excavations at Wroxeter between 1976-1982, the Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust 1976-7 & 1980, Colchester Archaeological Trust 1980, and then the Department of Urban Archaeology (Museum of London) between 1981-1991. Between 1991-2002 he was Head of Archaeology Commissions at English Heritage, before joining University College, London in 2002.
His early focus on urban archaeology, initially in Roman Britain, and then during rescue excavations in the souks of Beirut developed into an interest in the Late Antique transition to the early Islamic city, which led to research on the Silk Roads to Central Asia. In 2001 he became the Director the UCL/Turkmen research project at the Silk Road city of Ancient Merv, Turkmenistan which subsequently led to establishing the Central Asian Archaeological Landscape (CAAL) project in 2018.
He is a member of the International Scientific Committee on Archaeological Heritage Management (ICAHM) and has participated on ICOMOS advisory missions and panels, especially with regard to the Silk Roads, developing the strategy for Silk Roads World Heritage nomination through a thematic study, and assisting with nomination dossiers. He also established the UCL/Northwest University (Xi'an) International Centre for Silk Roads Archaeology & Heritage in 2018.