Steven P. Nolan was born in Canada. He received his B.Sc. in Chemistry from the University of West Florida and his Ph.D. from the University of Miami where he worked under the supervision of Professor Carl D. Hoff. After a postdoctoral stay with Professor Tobin J. Marks at Northwestern University, he joined the Department of Chemistry of the University of New Orleans in 1990.

In 2006 he joined the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ) as Group leader and ICREA Research Professor.

In early 2009, he joined the School of Chemistry at the University of St Andrews where he held the Chair in Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis. In 2015, he moved back to the continent and joined Ghent University. 

His primary areas of investigation include Organic chemistry, Carbene, Catalysis, Medicinal chemistry and Coupling reaction. His research in Organic chemistry tackles topics such as Combinatorial chemistry which are related to areas like Molecule. His studies in Carbene integrate themes in fields like Steric effects, Stereochemistry, Ligand and Ruthenium.

His Steric effects study incorporates themes from Tolman electronic parameter and Organometallic chemistry. His research in Catalysis intersects with topics in Reactivity and Polymer chemistry. His studies deal with areas such as Base, Alkyl, Salt, IMes and Phosphine as well as Medicinal chemistry.