1955-1957 - He studied art first at the Camberwell School of Arts and then at the Royal College of Art, where his fellow students included Peter Blake and Frank Auerbach.
1956 - He saw an exhibition of contemporary American art at the Tate Gallery, and began to produce paintings in an abstract expressionist style.
1958 - A year after leaving the Royal College, Morley moved to New York City, met Barnett Newman, and became influenced by him. He painted a number of works at this time made up of only horizontal black and white bands.
- He also met Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein and, influenced in part by them, changed to a photo-realist style
1970 - Morley's work began to be more expressionist, and he began to incorporate collage into his work.
1984 - Morley won the inaugural Turner Prize.
1990 - He returned again to a more precise photo-realist style, often reproducing images from model aeroplane kits on large.