A native Californian, Nisbet joined the army after high school and served in WW II. Upon return to civilian life, he enrolled in an architecture and engineering college in San Francisco, where he was inspired by the designs of Frank Lloyd Wright. He worked as a carpenter's apprentice until 1950, when he was accepted as a Fellow at Taliesin West. In 1953, he left Taliesin, and began work on his own. In 1958, following an extended stay in Tahiti, he moved to Hawaii, and established a practice there. He returned to California in the 1960s. Nisbet's beautiful drawings reflect the style and influence of Frank Lloyd Wright.