Born in Denham, Buckinghamshire the son of William Nicholson. He studied at the Slade School between 1910-1911 and travelled widely in Europe and the United States. He married Winifred Roberts (the painter Winifred Nicholson) and they lived both in London and Cumberland, spending winters in Castagnola, Switzerland.
His first one-man show was at the Adelphi Gallery in 1921. Nicholson was a member of the Seven and Five Society and he was an active member of Unit One. In 1932 he visited Paris with Barbara Hepworth (who became his second wife) this time meeting with Picasso and Braque as well as Brancusi and Arp. In 1933 Jean Helion encouraged him to join Abstraction-Creation and in 1937 was a co-editor for he 'Circle', a compendium of constructivist art. He moved to Cornwall in 1939 where he lived until 1958. He 1951 he was commissioned to paint a mural for the Festival of Britain and in 1954 had a retrospective exhibition at the Venice Biennale. In 1955 a retrospective was held at the Tate and another in 1969. His works are held in numerous private and public collections throughout the world.