Akbar Padamsee was born in Mumbai in 1928. Belonging to a Kathiawari (Gujarati) family, Akbar Padamsee got his Diploma in Painting for Sir J. J. School of Art, Mumbai in 1951, at the same time when the Progressive Artists' Group came in the forefront of Indian Art. He also got a fellowship from the J. D. Rockefeller Foundation in the year 1965. He was also invited as an Artist in Residence by Stout State University, Wisconsin in 1967.

A Padma Bhushan receiver from the Government of India in 2010, Akbar Padamsee won several prestigious accolades including the Kalidas Samman by the Government of Madhya Pradesh in 1997-98 and Lalit Kala Ratna by Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi in 2004.