Ron Havilio was born in Jerusalem in 1950. As a young boy, he lived in Paris, Istanbul and Yaounde, where his father was an Israeli diplomat. He first became interested in painting and photography, and studied art history at the Hebrew University. His photography work was exhibited in the Israel Museum. After working many years in building, he finally moved to cinema, experimenting with the language of the personal film diary. In 1984, he made a two-hour travel diary, never published.

In 1987 Havilio started working on his monumental "Fragments — Jerusalem" (1996), a six-hour documentary, personal diary and family saga interwoven with the history of Jerusalem. The film won the Grand Prize in Yamagata (Japan) in 1997.

Following their marriage in 1970, Ron and Jacqueline made a trip to the Andes, visiting the city of Potosi.  29 years later, they return to Potosi, with their three daughters, Noa, Yael and Naomi, and a super-16 camera. The experience gives birth to "Potosi, The Journey" (2007), a four-hour road movie, which is both a depiction in real time of the town and a journey of introspection for the filmmaker and his family.

Havilio has been teaching at the Jerusalem Sam Spiegel Film & Television School, at the Jerusalem Cinematheque and at the Aikido Institute of Jerusalem.