John Riches was born in Norwich in 1941 and lives in Matlaske, North Norfolk. He studied at Norwich School of Art and was a Royal Scholar at the Royal College of Art.
A fellow of both the Royal Society of Artists and the Chartered Society of Designers he has been a full time lecturer with the Norwich School of Art, now the Institute of Art and Design, since 1972. His work in watercolours and oils is primarily of landscape elements and has been shown extensively in London and Norfolk. In recent years he has travelled regularly to Provence to paint.