Lillico was born in Penguin, Tasmania, the son of state MP Alexander Lillico, and educated at Don State School and Devonport High School, with two terms boarding at Scotch College, Melbourne. He began farming after leaving school and acquired property at Wilmot. He was a member of the Kentish Council from 1934 until 1960 and became its youngest ever warden in 1936 at the age of 30.[1][2][3]
Lillico married Gladys Mayo in 1928, with whom he had three children. He was widowed in 1987 and died in Deloraine, Tasmania, on 1 November 1994.[1] His great-nephew Mark Baker was elected to the House of Representatives in 2004.[6]