I whānau mai a Willie Apiata i te 28 o Pipiri 1972, ki Mangakino, i te rohe o Waikato. Ahakoa tōna ingoa kei runga i te tiwhikete whānau ko “Bill”, e mōhiotia ana ia ko Willie.

He Māori tōna pāpā, he Pākehā tōna māmā. Kua  wehe ōna mātua, kei te piritata ki tōna māmā engari kāore i te whakapā atu ki tōna pāpā mō ētahi tau. E toru ngā tuahine a Willie, ko ia te tamaiti tuatoru o te whānau.

I ngā tau tīmatanga i noho ia ki te Tai Tokerau, i mua i tana neketanga ki Te Kaha, i te rohe rāwhiti o Waiariki. I Te Kaha i kuraina ki te Kura Rohe o te Whānau ā Apanui, ka wehe mai  i reira i te rā o tōna rā whānau, mō te tekau mā rima tau.

Ka eke ki te 16 tau, ka tonoa ia e tōna mama ki te noho ki te taha o ētahi whānau ki Tāmaki Makaurau; e piritata ana ia ki tōna whānau.

He tama tā Willie, e whā tau te pakeke, me tōna hoa noho mō te whitu tau. Ahakoa kua wehe ia me tōna hoa noho, he matua piripono a Willie, e noho tahi ana ki tana tama mō ngā rā o ngā wiki mutunga e taea ana e ia.

Ko te kāwai whakaheke a Willie ko Ngā Puhi te iwi i te taha o tōna pāpā, engari i te mea i te noho roa ia ki Waiariki e pirikaha ana ia ki Te Whānau ā Apanui, te iwi anō o tana hoa noho. Ko te marae kāinga o Willie ko Te kaha Marae kei Te Kaha.

I te 6 o Oketopa 1989 i uru atu ai a Willie ki te Rōpū Hōia o Aotearoa, ki te wāhanga Rōpū Territorial (TF), hei hōia mahi wāhanga noa iho, ki roto i te rōpū o Hauraki Regiment of the Royal New Zealand Regiment, ki Tauranga. Nā ōna hoa o roto o te TF ia i tautoko kia uru atu.

I rongo tuatahi a Willie mō te Royal New Zealand Special Air Service (NZSAS), i a ia e whai wāhi ana, i roto i tētahi kapa hoariri TF, mō tētahi mahinga whakangungu mō te NZSAS. I te tau 1996, i a ia i roto i te TF, ka whai kia uru ia ki NZSAS, engari kāore i uru.

Mō te wā, Hurae 2000 – Aperira 2001, i East Timor ia i roto i te Rōpū 3rd Battalion o Aotearoa, e whai wāhi ana ki ngā mahinga a United Nations ki reira. Nō te hokinga mai ki Aotearoa i te Aperira 2001, ka noho hei hōia tūturu ki roto i te Rōpū Hōia o Aotearoa.

I te Noema 2001, ka whai anō ia, ka eke ki ngā tikanga whakamātautau o NZSAS, ka tīmata ki roto i ngā kaupapa whakangungu a NZSAS i te tīmatanga o te tau 2002. I te otinga o te kaupapa whakangungu ka whakatūria ia hei mema mō NZSAS.

Ka taea e NZSAS ināianei te kī kei roto i tā rātou rōpū ngā hōia e rua o Aotearoa, e pupuri ana i ngā tohu tino teitei. I te tau 1974, i tohungia tōmuri te George Cross ki a Sergeant Murray Ken Hudson, (he rite tēnei ki te VC engari mō ngā mahinga kore hoariri), mō āna mahinga toa i waenga i tētahi aituā whakangungu kariri ki Waiōuru. He hōia nō mua a Sergeant Hudson o NZSAS, i whai wāhi ia i roto i tēnei rōpū ki Borneo i te tau 1966.