Richard Nevitt was born in Montreal, but educated in Canada, the USA and Latin America. At an early age, after seeing his first Group of Seven exhibition in an unlikely venue in Caracas, Venezuela he already felt a strong pull to the visual arts.

Visits to galleries and museums were frequent in his youth. From 1959 to 1963, Richard pursued his studies at the Ontario College of Art. During his formative years he was invited to teach and to learn the craft of teaching under the watchful eye of Jim Williamson, head of the Toronto Art Gallery School. In 1965 he was invited to teach artistic anatomy and drawing part-time at the Ontario College of Art. Under the guidance of his mentor professor Nancy Joy, illustrator of Grant's Atlas of Anatomy, Richard entered the “Art as Applied to Medicin” program. His love of anatomy and other medical subjects sustained him throughout his teaching career.

In 1968 the Canadian Government invited Richard to document peace-keeping activities with the Canadian Armed Forces in Cyprus. The following year an invitation was extended to illustrate naval operations in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Many of these drawings currently reside in the War Museum archives in Ottawa. Richard served on the faculty at the Ontario College of Art for forty years. In 1993 he was the recipient of the A. J. Casson Award for Distinguished Service from the Ontario College of Art Alumni Association in recognition of an outstanding and dedicated contribution to the cause of education in art.

Now retired, Richard continues to work at his home studio in Alton. He also gives workshops at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg.