Born in 1931, Bieleski attended Auckland University College, graduating with an Master of Science with first-class honours in 1955. After completing a Doctor of Philosophy on the process of sugar transport in sugar cane at the University of Sydney in 1958, he began a research career at the New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (Department of Scientific and Industrial Research), retiring in 1996.
From 1980 to 1988 he was the director of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research"s division of horticulture and processing.
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand in 1973, and won the society"s Hector Medal in 1984. He was awarded a Doctor of Science by thesis by the University of Sydney in 1990, and he was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to horticultural science in the 2010 New Year Honours.
