Wilfried Westerlinck was born in Leuven on October 3, 1945.

At the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels, he studied oboe with Louis Van Deyck and harmony with Victor Legley.

Concurrently, he took courses in orchestral conducting (with Daniel Sternefeld) and musical analysis and structure (with August Verbesselt) at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Antwerp.

From 1970 to 1983, he taught musical analysis at this institution.

Westerlinck also took a course in orchestral conducting with Igor Markevits in Monte Carlo.

Since 1968, he has worked primarily at VRT (the Flemish Radio and Television Broadcasting Company), where in early 2001 he was appointed
Head of Production and Performance of Chamber and Orchestral Music.

In the 1990s, he played instrumental music in media events such as Radio 3's 'La Nui' (The Night of the Unknown) and 'Radio 3 dans la Ville'. He then participated in various organizations, notably 'de Belgische klassieke muziekwereld'.

Some of his compositions have won awards: Metamorfose (Tenuto Prize, 1972), Landschappen I (Province of Antwerp Prize, 1977). In 1985, Westerlinck was awarded the Jef Van Hoof Prize for a song cycle set to texts by Bertus Aafjes and the Eugène Baie Prize for his entire body of work.

In 2004, he was composer-in-residence at the Gdańsk Academy of Music.