Born in Scotland in 1887, Colville arrived in Australia aged five, and about 1910 he studied painting at the National Gallery of Victoria Art School. He served overseas during the four years of the Great War 1914-1918. After the war he became a founding member of the Twenty Melbourne Painters and exhibited his works with the Victorian Art School. He became an official war artist for the period 1949-50 producing works depicting the occupation of Japan. He died in 1970.

Painter in oil and watercolour he was widely known for his impressionistic bush and coastal scenes and he was awarded the Albury Prize in 1951. His work is represented in the National Gallery of Australia and Geelong Gallery.