Vladimir Dikarev was born in 1949 in Berdyansk, southern city near the Azov sea. From the early childhood he was immersed in the process of depicting the world around him. When he was 10 years old, he entered Art School in Berdyansk where he studied drawing, painting, sculpture, composition, and art history for four years. After completing Art School at the age 14, Vladimir moved to one of the most beautiful city of the western Ukraine, Uzhgorod, where he entered the Uzhgorod College of Fine Arts.

The atmosphere in that area was more liberal compared to the other cities of Ukraine because it was closer to the West where traditions of the free world were not destroyed by Soviet power. Besides receiving strong academical education in college, Vladimir was exposed to the underground ideas of western and eastern philosophy. He belonged to the group of progressive youth who shared views and interests alternative to those of the mainstream Soviet culture. He studied Eastern philosophy, poetry, and religion, and that was reflected in his works.

In 1968 he received his college diploma in monumental arts with highest honors from Uzhgorod College of Fine Arts. At age 20, Vladimir started to work as the monumental artist producing work commissioned by the state - murals, stain glasses, mosaics, and stelas. At the same time secretly Vladimir was creating his surrealistic drawings and paintings. Legal creation and exhibition of those pieces was not possible because of the state censorship issues. Nevertheless, Vladimir continued to paint and draw expressing his views in his own style.

With the arrival of Perestroika, the whole artistic world back in Ukraine has dramatically changed and finally it was legal to exhibit his private works. From 1988 on, Vladimir Dikarev has actively been exhibiting his works in Ukraine, Russia and throughout Europe. He also worked as an illustrator of children's books and movies.

Vladimir Dikarev lives and works in St. Paul, Minnesota since 1997.