Kurt Jackson MA (Oxon) DLitt (Hon) RWA was born in 1961 in Blandford, Dorset. He graduated from St Peter’s College, Oxford with a degree in Zoology in 1983. While there, he spent most of his time painting and attending courses at Ruskin College of Art, Oxford. On gaining his degree he travelled extensively and independently, painting wherever he went. He travelled to the Arctic alone and hitched across Africa with his wife, Caroline. This has given him a broad experience of environments and cultures which has enriched his work with a unique insight and an attention to detail. He and Caroline moved to Cornwall in 1984, where they still live and work.
 
A dedication to and celebration of the environment is intrinsic to both his politics and his art and a holistic involvement with his subjects provides the springboard for his formal innovations. Jackson's practice involves both plein air and studio work and embraces an extensive range of materials and techniques including mixed media, large canvases, print  making and sculpture.
 
He has been Artist in Residence on the Greenpeace ship Esperanza, at the Eden Project and at Glastonbury Festival since 1999. He has an Honorary Doctorate (DLitt) from Exeter University and is an Honorary Fellow of St Peter's College, Oxford University. He is an ambassador for Survival International and frequently works with Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, WaterAid, Oxfam and Cornwall Wildlife Trust. He is represented by Redfern Gallery and The Lemon Street Gallery, Truro. He is an academician at the Royal West of England Academy.

An exhibition at the Jackson Foundation in St Just, scheduled to open in March 2020, entitled: Art.Music.Activism : Kurt Jackson, Glastonbury Festival and Greenpeace was postponed due to the coronovirus pandemic.