Simon Watterton was born in Wirral, in North West England. He studied at the Purcell School of Music with Patsy Toh, and with Yonty Solomon at the Royal College of Music.

Whilst an undergraduate at the RCM, Simon won a number of prizes, including the Marmaduke Barton Piano Prize and the annual Beethoven Competition. In his final year he won the Hopkinson Silver Medal at the Chappell Medal Competition, where he was also awarded the Esther Fisher prize for best undergraduate performance. In his final recital, performing Bach's Goldberg Variations, he achieved the highest mark in his year.

Simon is a regular recitalist at venues across the UK. Past appearances include performances at Wigmore Hall, St. John's Smith Square, St. Martin's In-the-Fields and Kettle's Yard, amongst others. In 2005 he won the piano prize at the Haverhill Sinfonia Soloist Competition. In May 2006, as a result of further competitive success at the Marlow Music Festival, he performed Mozart's Piano Concerto in A Major, K488, at Cadogan Hall, with Southbank Sinfonia.

Simon featured as a Rising Star in the March/April 2009 issue of International Piano Quarterly magazine, and in April 2010 was awarded the British Music Prize at the inaugural Sussex International Piano Competition. In the same year he completed a cycle of the complete piano sonatas of Beethoven, close to home in London.