Ron Leach was born in Mingo Junction, Ohio, and moved to New York in 1996 after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University. At Carnegie Mellon he studied drawing and illustration under the tutelage of Herb Olds and Fred Carlson.

In 1998, after a brief career as an illustrator for such clients as the New Yorker, BMG Direct and Classical, the New York Times Arts and Leisure Section, Forbes, SONY, and Opera News, he began to work on large-scale pastel drawings, with the support of Urs Jakob and the Gershwin Hotel. Ron maintained a studio at the Gershwin, and turned gradually from drawing to painting in 2005.

His paintings and drawings have been exhibited at many alternative venues across the country, including The Gershwin Gallery, the New Yorker Gallery, DopDop Salon, the Alice Band Salon, Monique Goldstrom, and Boylan Studios.

Recently Ron was a recipient of a grant from the Cultural Solidarity fund.