João Cutileiro attended the Lisbon School of Fine Arts and the Slade School in London, where he was awarded the Slade Prize and served as an assistant to Reg Butler.

In 1963, he experimented with the technique of articulating and juxtaposing elements in large-scale sculptures, which later allowed him to incorporate a variety of materials into a single piece, creating effects of natural and timeless polychromy without resorting to ephemeral paint.

In 1965, he began using cutting and drilling machinery to reduce the costs and time involved in producing his works. In 1970, he moved to Lagos, where he began taking sculpture classes at the Centro da Pedra.

In 1975, he explored the possibility of using mosaics as a way to repurpose marble scraps.
Among his most controversial works are the statue of King Sebastian in Lagos (1973) and the Monument to the April 25 Revolution in Eduardo VII Park (1999).