Derrick Greaves was born in Sheffield and from the age of 16 was an apprentice signwriter which he said taught him more than subsequent teaching. After attending evening classes he won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art, 1948-52.
He worked in Italy 1952-3 where he was influenced by the realism of Renato Guttuso and he later showed at the Beaux Arts Gallery and became one of the 'Kitchen Sink' painters, exhibiting at The Venice Biennale in 1956. He taught at St Martin's School of Art and the Royal Academy Schools, being Head of Printmaking at Norwich School of Art from 1983-91. From the 1960s his work lost the grittiness of the Kitchen Sink and became more linear and poetic with a simple graphic strength. Initially he embraced pop art with bright solid areas of colour. By the 1970s Greaves had achieved a more delicate and poetic language in his work.