Dirk Hagner was born and educated in Germany and received his MFA from the Folwangschule of the Arts, now part of the University of Essen-Duisburg. He moved to the US in the 1980s and lives in California, South of Los Angeles, where he maintains his studio.
He has been working as a printmaking and book arts artist and for 13 years was full-time faculty for printmaking at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, CA.
His work is held in many private and institutional collections.