Vassilis Zacharakis was born in 1939 in Skines, Chania. He studied drawing for a year at the Athens School of Fine Arts under Nikos Nikolaou and fresco under Costas Georgakopoulos while working in the workshop of Panos Sarafianos.

As a fellow of the Greek-Orthodox Diocese of Germany, he pursued independent studies in Düsseldorf. He took part in Pan-Hellenic Exhibitions and in several group exhibitions in Greece and abroad, including the Youth Biennale in Rome (1975), the exhibition 15 Greek Painters in Cologne (1976), etc. He also wrote poetry. Vassilis Zacharakis died in 1990. He was a member of the Chamber of Fine Arts of Greece.