Woltz was born and raised on a
cattle and
cropfarm in
Mount Airy, North Carolina.[1][2] His father, John Elliott Woltz Sr., was the owner of local knitwear company Quality Mills and his mother Mary Patricia "Pat" Gwyn Woltz was a philanthropist, civic leader, and artist.
[3][4] In the 1970s, the family farm was developed into the Cross Creek Country Club.[2]
After receiving his undergraduate degree from the
University of Virginia in 1990, Woltz moved to
Venice,
Italy, where he worked at architecture firm Giorgio Bellavitis in addition to leading the University of Virginia's summer program for architecture students. He returned to the University of Virginia in 1994 to resume his studies in
architecture and
landscape architecture, receiving master's degrees for each subject in 1996 and 1997, respectively. Upon graduation, Woltz started working at what was then
Nelson Byrd Landscape Architects, under his former professor Warren T. Byrd, Jr., and partner
Susan Nelson. In 2003, Woltz became named partner of
Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects, and in 2013, the firm's sole proprietor.[1][2]
NBW's project at Orongo Station in
Young Nick's Head,
Poverty Bay,
New Zealand, which Woltz led, illustrates the firm's integration of multiple disciplines, such as "art, architecture, agriculture, ecological, and cultural reclamation",[5] into a single site. The project included the restoration of an old homestead, new buildings, domestic gardens, reconfigured wetlands, a reforested coastline, and expanded access to a
Maori burial ground across a 1,200-
hectare property.[5][6]