Creswell was born in London and educated at Westminster School and the City & Guilds Technical College. Creswell moved to Cairo in 1926 and meticulously catalogued its Islamic monuments while teaching at Cairo University. When the Suez Crisis jeopardized his collection, he transferred his library, photographs, and personal papers to the American University in Cairo, where he was later appointed Distinguished Professor of Islamic Art and Architecture. His pioneering contributions to the field, such as Early Muslim Architecture, The Muslim Architecture of Egypt, and Bibliography of the Architecture, Art & Crafts of Islam are valued by scholars worldwide.