Hans Ticha was born in 1940 in Tetschen-Bodenbach (today Děčín, Czech Republic). Following the expulsion of the German population, he grew up in Schkeuditz (Saxony). In 1958 he studied art and history at the Educational Institute of Leipzig University. From 1965 to 1970 he studied painting at the Weissensee University of the Arts in East Berlin. He has received many awards, including the Walter Tiemann Prize in 1998. He took part in the Biennale in Venice in 1990. Ticha lives and works in Maintal (Hesse).