Dick Haakman was born into an artistic atmosphere in 1934 in Bergen, Norway. At a young age he moved to California to study at a Los Angeles academy. Haakman believed that the subject matter of his paintings were the driving force of his passion, and he employed numerous techniques and styles to evoke these images. He experimented with watercolor landscapes, and burned oil, wax, and pigment into waxed paper, producing unique surrealistic pieces. However, his initial success was with his realistic work that brought him recognition in the western United States. In the mid-1970s, Haakman returned to Europe where he now lives and organizes expositions of his works.
