George Hainsworth was born in Leeds in 1937. He studied at Leeds College of Art (1955-60) followed by the Slade School of Fine Art (1960-62) where he was taught by, amongst others, Sir William Coldstream. He was awarded the Gulbenkian Scholarship in Sculpture at the British School in Rome (1962-63).

There followed a 40 year career in teaching, initially at Leeds College of Art then Leeds Polytechnic (now Leeds Beckett University). He retired from his professorship in 2002 and now lives in East Yorkshire with his wife, artist and printmaker, Lucy Hainsworth (nee Rogers). Throughout all this time George Hainsworth has created and exhibited art in a variety of media, notably oil painting on panel and canvas, pastel and sculpture. His work has been exhibited throughout the UK as well as in Holland and the USA. It can be found in corporate and private collections in Europe and the USA.