Ron Bolt was born in Toronto, Canada in 1938. Ron Bolt studied at Northern Technical School, Toronto, graduating as a Gold Medallist in 1957 and then went on to study at Ontario College of Art. In 1961 Ron Bolt graduated as an Associate of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. Ron Bolt's career spans close to 40 years and includes over 70 one man exhibitions. Participating in group exhibitions in public museums in Canada, the U.S., Mexico, England and Japan, Ron Bolt has continued the powerful tradition of landscape painting in Canada although with a slight shift in focus. For Bolt, it is the coastal and river waterways that fascinate him – a wilderness that he describes as "sacred".

Ron Bolt's paintings, drawings and prints can be found in private, public and corporate collections around the world. Among his many commissions are murals for the Ontario and Canadian Federal governments, two books, and a serigraph for the Royal Ontario Museum and the "Fundy" definitive $1.00 stamp for Canada Post. His commitment to furthering a wider appreciation of the visual arts has involved him as co-founder of ART magazine, and founding member of Visual Arts Ontario. Ron Bolt was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1986 and served as its 27th President from 2000 to 2002. Ron Bolt was awarded the Canada 125 Medal in 1992, the Queen's Jubilee Medal in 2003 and the RCA's Centennial Medallion in 2005.