In his youth, David Wise learned to play the piano, the trumpet and drums. Later, while working in a shop in 1985, David wrote and programmed music for the demonstration of a Yamaha CX5 Music Computer. Two people came by and were quite impressed by his skills. Their names were Tim and Chris Stamper, founders of Rare Ltd.. They offered David a job as the audio programmer of their company, and that is how it all started.

For many years, Wise was the sole composer for Rare games, which the majority were released on the NES. In 1994, the Donkey Kong Country" project introduced two new names in Rare's audio team: Evelyn Fischer and Robin Beanland. While still being employed by this company, this was a turning point where David's productivity started to slow down,; he didn't have to write the music for every new game anymore with the introduction of several new composers in the staff over the years.

Wise is, however, still active at Rare. He created the soundtrack for the GameCube's Star Fox Adventures and totally revamped the music for the Game Boy Advance's Donkey Kong Country 3 in more recent years. He was also responsible for the DS' Diddy Kong Racing port and Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise spinoff in the last two years. His current project is a not-yet-revealed Xbox 360 game.

• Although he was the first of Rare's musicians, David is not the head of the music department. It is currently Robin Beanland.
• His favorite personal composition is "Aquatic Ambiance" from DKC.
• He played in bands, and is currently still part of one.
• The Police was his favorite band.