Ian Harvey was born and raised in Boston. He currently lives and works in California where he has been a Professor of Art at California State University, Sacramento, since 2005.

Following graduation from Wesleyan University in Connecticut (BA 1977), Harvey moved to New York to attend Columbia University, School of the Arts (MFA 1980). After returning to Wesleyan University as a Visiting Artist in 1980 he continued to teach at Wesleyan until 1989 when he moved to New York and became a director at Associated American Artists. In New York he exhibited at 55 Mercer in Soho, participated in group shows nationally, and attended residencies at the Vermont Studio Center and Triangle Artists Workshop.

In 1997 Harvey left Associated American Artists to accept a one-year fellowship at the Vermont Studio Center. He remained at the Center until 2002 directing the Vermont Studio Center Press, a fundraising program supporting artist residency fellowships. At the Center his painting was supported by grants from the Artist Resource Trust (2001), and the Pollock-Krasner Foundation (2002).

In 2003 the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art in Omaha, Nebraska invited Harvey for an extended residency and exhibition. Following his stay at Bemis he lived in South Korea for 18 months where he studied and worked with traditional Korean painting materials and methods. In 2006 he returned to the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, supported by a fellowship from CSU Sacramento, to initiate collaborative projects with Koo Kyung Sook. Since that time he has focused on both collaborative and individual works which have been exhibited in San Jose, Sacramento, New York City and Seoul, South Korea.