Yiannis Zacharakis was born in Rethymnon, Crete in 1961. He served as a military officer for 34 years before resigning in 2012, the year on which he started painting. He was an apprentice to Nikos Karakonstantis for 5 years and attended freehand and linear drawing classes at the “Plaka” School in Athens. He has exhibited his work in solo exhibitions: “Bicycle Praise” at the Black Duck Art Gallery, Athens, 2014 and “Edges of the South” at the St. Mark’s Basilica, Heraklion, 2019 and has taken part in group exhibitions held at: the Athens War Museum 2013, the Cultural Centre of Kifissia Municipality 2015, and the Depot Art Gallery, Athens 2018.