Bryan Rooksby was born in Hendon, London, the son of bank worker, Harry P Rooksby and his wife Dorothy Pugh. During WWII he was evacuated to the Redruth-Camborne district, and afterwards, returning to London, he studied at the Willesden School of Art (c1948-52).

From the late 1950s to the early 1970s he worked as a commercial artist for several studios in the City of London, including such as Blue Circle.  He developed an interest in photography and published some of his own in magazines such as Amateur Photographer and Photo News Weekly. He was a runner-up in several photographer-of-the-year competitions.

In 1972 he and his wife, Dallas, set up the Bryandal Guest House in Ocean View Terrace, in St Ives, with the idea of starting a new life. As a side-line he worked as a signwriter in Penwith and his painting receded to the status of experimental and spare time hobby, which he did not exhibit to the public. The guest house closed in 1976 and sold in 1977 with all contents, perhaps including a number of his pictures which may have been bought by local people. He left Cornwall in the late 1970s and died in Southend, Essex in 2017.

His eldest son Rikky Rooksby (1958-) is a published author and composer, some of whose music is inspired by Cornwall and Cornish art. In 2010 his orchestral piece, 'Scenes from the Life of Sir Humphry Davy' was performed in Penzance to mark the centenary of the Humphry Davy School.