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Born in Winnsboro, South Carolina, at age fifteen he and his mother moved to Seattle, Washington. He began working at the Longacres Racetrack in nearby Renton, Washington then as an apprentice jockey rode in his first race at the Ak-Sar-Ben Racetrack in Omaha, Nebraska. In 1948, younger brother John Weldon Glisson would also become a jockey.

Within a few years, Gordon Glisson developed into a top jockey and in the 1948-1949 winter racing season he led all jockeys at Santa Anita Park in wins. In 1949 he also rode in New York Statewhere he had four winners in one day and ended the year as the leading jockey in New York and in total won more races than any jockey in the United States. During his outstanding 1949 campaign he won the prestigious Santa Anita Derbywith Old Rockport then rode him to a fourth-place finish in the Kentucky Derbyand to eighth place in the Preakness Stakes. Among Glisson's other important wins, on January 26, 1950, he rode Miche to a huge upset win over the great Citation in the La Sorpresa Handicap at Santa Anita Park. In 1955, Glisson won another major West Coast event, capturing the Hollywood Gold Cupaboard King Ranch's, Rejected.

A fan favorite, The New Yorker magazine of March 5, 1949 (p. 79) wrote that "What impresses horsemen most is that his style is remarkably like that of the late George Woolf, even to the coolness he shows in tight finishes." In a similar vein, the October 31, 1949, issue of Timemagazine did an article on Gordon Glisson titled "The Kid with the Cold Eye".

In 1950, Glisson was the first recipient of the newly created George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award given to a successful Thoroughbred racing jockey in North America who demonstrates high standards of personal and professional conduct, on and off the racetrack

Louise Mason was an artist that specialized in thoroughbred horse portraits. Her painting are truly unique to the time period and represent some of the top horse athletes and jockeys. Several of her painting are on display at California Racecourses, including Hollywood Park, Santa Anita, Los Alamos and Del Mar. In association with turfwriter and handicapper Ernie Mason, she was also known as a handicapper and columnist as “Lucky Louise”. She was honored in the 1960’s edition of “Who’s Who in Horsedom”. Ernie Mason a top handicapper at Santa Anita Race Track for over 23 years.