Ian Jacob was born and grew up in Llangwm, Pembrokeshire. He studied at Newport College of Art, before going on to Gloucestershire College of Art and Design and finally Goldsmiths College, London.

After a period of exhibiting, a career change led to him spending 25 years in the world of Advertising, located in both London and New York. But in 2006 he returned to Pembrokeshire and his native village of Llangwm, where he has rekindled his career as a painter and printmaker, and today works from his studio overlooking the River Cleddau.