Born on 30 April 1934 in Beni Suef governorate in Upper Egypt, El-Touni graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Cairo University in 1958 with a degree in scenography.

Throughout his decades-long career, El-Touni created a large body of work that spans between illustrations for children's books, book covers, magazine illustrations and layouts, logos, political posters, and typography. 

He began working as an illustrator at El Kawakeb magazine and Dar El Hilal and contributed to renowned local and international magazines.

El-Touni moved to Beirut in 1973, where he continued his work as an illustrator. He designed posters for numerous organisations, especially political and civil rights organizations and left-wing Lebanese and Arab nationalist parties.

Upon return to Egypt in 1984, El-Touni became Chief Art Director for the cultural monthly magazine Weghet Nazar, collaborating with Dar El Fataa El Arabi and Dar El Shorouk.

El-Touni held numerous exhibitions showcasing his work in Egypt and across the Arab region. Several of his paintings are housed by the Museum of Modern Egyptian Art in Cairo, or purchased by private collectors.

"El-Touni’s work is frequently described as a bridge between past and present, a portal into a glorious fantastical past, with his primitive folklore style as timelessly relevant as the stories they illustrate," wrote Soha El-Sirgany, describing the artist's work presented in a 2014 retrospective exhibition held at Sharjah Art Gallery at the American University in Cairo.

Helmi El-Touni received several national and international awards and nominations. In 1982, he was the first Egyptian artist to receive a non-Arab award for illustration at the Leipzig Book Fair. 

Other recognitions include, among others, the UNICEF Award for a poster for the International Year of the Child in 1979, awards for his work at the Beirut Arabic Book Fair (1977–79), the Cairo International Book Fair Prize (1998), First Prize in Suzanne Mubarak Competition for Children’s Literature (1999 and 2000), the Bologna Ragazzi New Horizons Award (2002).

The funeral prayers for the late artist were held on Saturday at the Mustafa Mahmoud Mosque in Mohandeseen, Cairo. Details about the wake are yet to be revealed.