John Frederick Lidzey was born in Islington, London and began his artistic training at the Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts and later studied at the Hornsey School of Art. He initially began his professional career as a typographer before becoming a concept artist in an advertising studio. He continued to work in the advertising industry for over a decade, during which time the artist became an award winning member of the Society of Industrial Artists. In the late 1960s Lidzey taught as a lecturer in typography and graphic design at his alma mater, the Camberwell School of Arts, and later at the Southwark College.

It was only in 1987 that the artist began to paint full time, and just three years later the artist received the Daler-Rowney Award at an exhibition held by the Royal Watercolour Society. Subsequently the artist relocated to Suffolk, where the surrounding countryside inspired the artist to capture the lush landscape in a multitude of distinctive watercolour paintings. Lidzey authored several instructional books on painting throughout his career and continued to write and paint late in to his life.