Bill Bomar was born in Fort Worth, Texas, and began painting at the age of seven. His exceptional talent was evident, despite an early diagnosis of cerebral palsy. He studied at the Cranbrook Academy of Art and later with John Sloan and Hans Hoffman.

Since childhood Bomar spent his summers in New Mexico, dividing the rest of his time between Fort Worth and New York. When he eventually moved to Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico, he began showing work in Texas and the Southwest and continued to exhibit in New York.

Bill Bomar first exhibited in Six Texas Painters at the Weyhe Gallery in New York in 1944. His art is in the permanent collection of the Brooklyn Museum; Dallas Museum of Art; Guggenheim Museum, New York; Harwood Museum of Art, Taos, New Mexico; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth; Museum of Fine Arts Houston; Old Jail Art Center; and numerous private collections.

Bomar was known as a member of the Forth Worth Circle and a founder of the Old Jail Art Center in Albany, Texas.