The renowned accountant was born on August 9, 1919, to a wealthy family of Thomas Ekundayo Williams in Lagos.
In 1919, he attended Olowogbowo Methodist Primary School and CMS Grammar School in Lagos. He was awarded a Diploma in Commerce from the Yaba Higher College in 1941.
Consequently, in 1944, Williams went to the United Kingdom to study accounting. He completed a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from the University of London in 1946 and passed the final examinations of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales in 1950 and returned to Nigeria.
After he arrived from England, Williams was the first Nigerian to establish the first indigenous chartered accounting firm in Nigeria called the Akintola Williams & Co. in 1952.
He was also a member of the board of trustees of the Commonwealth Foundation and the Nigerian Conservation Foundation amongst others.