The Israeli-born son of a ship owner, Arison decided to bypass a career in the industry for an engineering education. He entered the American University of Beirut at age 16, but World War II interrupted his studies.  Joining the British Army, he served in Italy and Germany, attaining the rank of sergeant major.  After the war, Arison�s father died and, as the only son, he was asked to assume control of the family business, M. Dizengoff and Co., ship owners and general agents for several lines.  Two years later, he was back in uniform serving his native country as a lieutenant colonel during the Israeli War of Independence.

In the early 1950�s, the Dizengoff firm was sold to Zim Lines and Arison operated his own fleet of cargo ships under Panamanian and Honduran flags. A depressed market, which reached its low point after the Korean War, convinced him to give up shipping entirely, and he liquidated his operation to move to the United States.  For a 12-year period beginning in 1954, Arison embarked on a number of ventures in the air cargo industry, including a publicly traded company with a $10 million market value. In 1966, however, he chose to retire in Miami and sold his holdings to the parent firm.

But soon afterward, he gave up early retirement to assume the management of a passenger shipping company in Miami. A disastrous financial situation left that company without a vessel, and Arison called upon Norwegian ship owner Knut Kloster, whose new Sunward recently had been completed in Europe.  Less than two weeks later, Arison and Kloster negotiated agreements that brought the Sunward to Miami, and thus was begun Norwegian Caribbean Lines. The company later initiated the first packaged air fare and cruise combinations which are a staple of today�s industry.

Kloster and Arison parted company in 1972 and, almost immediately, Arison entered into the financial arrangement which resulted in the acquisition of the Mardi Gras and the start of Carnival Cruise Lines.  Arison also headed Miami�s successful campaign to bring professional basketball to South Florida. The Miami Heat, of which Arison previously was the majority owner, began its first season in the NBA in November, 1988.  He retired as Chairman of Carnival Cruise Lines in late 1990, and from the company�s Board of Directors in 1991.
He continued to serve as a special consultant overseeing Carnival Corporation�s $4 billion shipbuilding program.  In December of 1990, Arison reclaimed his Israeli citizenship, returning to his birthplace, Tel Aviv. Since moving back to Israel, he invested in several industrial businesses there and maintained a very active role in many Israeli charities.

His interest in philanthropic and humanitarian efforts in the South Florida area continue to be served through both the Carnival and Arison Foundations. He was the chief benefactor of the Miami-based National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, which encourages aspiring young artists to continue their studies through a scholarship awards program. Launched by NFAA and now affiliated with it, Miami�s New World Symphony has won rave reviews on its national tour. His own Arison Foundation makes substantial contributions to a variety of cultural and charitable organizations.

Arison was a former chairman of the Tel Aviv Foundation. He was a founder of Mt. Sinai Medical Center, the University of Miami and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, which selected him as its Distinguished Achievement Award honoree in 1983, and served as a trustee and member of the Florida Governor�s Mansion Foundation.

He received a variety of awards acknowledging his outstanding contributions to the arts. Among them, the Dean�s Annual Award for Outstanding Service to the Arts, which was presented to Arison and his wife Lin in 1983 by the University of Florida.

In 1986, he was designated Florida Ambassador of the Arts by then-Florida Secretary of State George Firestone, and in 1990, he received the International Society of Performing Arts Administrators Angel Award, and the Florida Arts Recognition Award presented by Florida Secretary of State Jim Smith. 

Additionally, Arison was granted an honorary doctorate of law degree from Barry University and from Technion of Haifa. His influence on the development of the modern-day cruise industry has been equally acknowledged. In 1990 he was presented the Hall of Fame award by the Caribbean Tourism Organization and in 1991, at the World Congress of the American Society of Travel Agents, he was inducted into the Society�s Hall of Fame.