Nik Wheeler started his professional photographic career as a war photographer for United Press International in Vietnam, covering major battles such as the Tet Offensive and the Battle of Hue. After being based for two and one half years in Saigon he moved to Beirut to freelance throughout the Middle East, covering the Jordanian Civil War for Time Magazine and the Yom Kippur War for Newsweek and shooting assignments for the London Sunday Observer, Telegraph and National Geographic magazines. His first book "Return to the Marshes", shot in the Marshes of Iraq and published by Collins, was an expansion of a Geographic assignment. In the mid-seventies he relocated to Paris, under contract for Sipa Press and traveled the world on diverse photo journalistic assignments-the Coronation of the King of Nepal, General Franco´s Funeral, the Fall of Saigon, the Montreal Olympics, the "Thriller in Manila" and other important news events. It was during this period that he took his famous picture of arch-terrorist Carlos at Algiers airport-a photo that was recently numbered among the 100 most Important Photos of the 20th Century.

Moving Back to California in the late seventies Nik illustrated several books including a second book on Iraq, a book on the Bhotia of Nepal for Time-Life Books and one of the first books on China to be published after the country opened its borders to tourism. Working through the celebrated agency Black Star of New York he traveled around the world shooting for Geo, National Geographic, International Wildlife, Travel and Leisure and leading European Magazines such as Terre Sauvage, Amica, Bunte, Stern, Departures and the Sunday Times Magazine.

In recent years Nik has focused almost exclusively on travel and stock photography, marketing and distributing his work both independently and through Corbis/Westlight and other overseas agents. As cofounder of the award-winning Insiders Guide series of illustrated travel guides (now distributed in the USA through Globe-Pequot as the Travelers Companion Guides) he has amassed a vast library of more than 350,000 images from more than 60 countries around the globe. His photos have graced more than 200 magazine and book covers and his work appears regularly in leading travel magazines such as Islands, Escape, Travel-Holiday, Gourmet, Diversion, Outside, Discovery and Destinations. In 1988 he was named travel Photographer of the Year by SATW and was runner-up for that award in 1992. He is currently photographing a coffee table book for Thames and Hudson, entitled "Dream Islands-Caribbean".