Gervais (George Paul Gervais Jr.)was born in Waterville, Maine in 1946 to George Paul and Doris Boyd Gervais. He is eleventh generation American, directly descended in the paternal line from old colonial American families. His first American paternal ancestor was Elie de Bédée des Aulnais, a Huguenot aristocrat, born on the island of Jersey, of a French protestant family of Anger and Brittany, who fled France after the repeal of the Edict of Nantes. Elie de Bédée emigrated to New England in 1707. Paul Gervais's father was born George Paul Beede, in Lowell, Massachusetts, 1908, but took the name of his step-father, Gervais, when he was 26 years old. Gervais's mother, Doris Boyd, was born in Brooklyn, Connecticut in 1916. Her father, Samuel McCausland Boyd of Northern Ireland, immigrated to the United States in 1884, and her mother, Yvonne Charbonneau, was a direct descendant of Olivier Charbonneau, one of the earliest settlers of New France. Paul Gervais attended St. Michael's College where he earned his B.A. in 1969. Gervais also attended San Francisco State University where he studied poetry with Robert Creeley. He earned his M.F.A. from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1980. He became a full-time writer in 1984. He met Gil Cohen, his companion, in 1974, and together they have lived in Boston, San Francisco, Point Reyes, California, New York City, and in Lucca, Italy. Their home, Villa Massei, in Lucca, which they bought in 1981, has been widely published in numerous books and magazines for its extraordinary garden, created by its owners, which is visited annually by thousands of garden lovers from all over the world.

Gervais currently holds membership with P.E.N. and the Authors Guild.

Gervais worked in advertising and real estate sales before becoming a full-time writer in 1984. He completed his first novel in 1991. The book was titled Extraordinary People and it depicted the lives of two boys growing up in neglectful households.

Gervais' second book, A Garden in Lucca: Finding Paradise in Tuscany, is a personal memoir recalling Gervais' journey of self-discovery after buying and caring for an extensive garden in Tuscany, Italy.

Gervais now runs a garden design service.