Ganesh Haloi was born in 1936 in Jamalpur, now in Bangladesh. He shifted to Calcutta in 1950, after Partition, a trauma that left its mark on his work as it has done on other painters of his generation. He graduated from the Government College of Art and Craft in Calcutta in 1956. After which he joined the Archaeological Survey of India to make copies of the Ajanta murals. Seven years later, Haloi returned to work in Calcutta and joined the Government College of Art and Craft since 1963 till his retirement. Since 1971, he has been a 'member of the Society of Contemporary Artists.

Haloi worked in many mediums and initially painted figures in landscapes. His work depicts his preoccupation with the theme of devastation or calamity and resilience. His work has also evolved through a series of transactions from landscape to innerscapes.

The artist lives and works in Kolkata. Over the years he has participated in several solo and group exhibitions across the country and the globe. He also has the honour of being given Rabindra Bharati award in 1970 and the Shiromani Puraskar in 1991.