Dr Desta Heliso grew up in rural Ethiopia. After completing secondary school, he studied theology in Ethiopia and the UK. He then went to the UK for further studies, then upon completion, he returned to Ethiopia and served as Lecturer, Dean, and Director of the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology (EGST) in Addis Ababa.  He also served as a board member of the Inter-Religious Council of Ethiopia, Vice President of the Ethiopian Kale Heywet Church, and Chair of the Association for Christian Theological Education in Africa (ACTEA). After finishing his term as Director of EGST, he established and led the EGST Centre for Ancient Christianity and Ethiopian Studies and coordinated a doctoral program jointly run by EGST and Vreije Universiteit Amsterdam. 

Desta and his family moved to the UK in 2020 for family reasons. While pursuing his teaching and research interests, he serves SOPHOS AFRICA as its Executive Director. He is also a visiting lecturer at (EGST) and the London School of Theology (LST). Desta is married to Joanna Jeffery with six children.