Ryan M. Thiele was born in Bushnell, Illinois in 1977. He attended the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign where he graduated with a Bachelor's of Art in Painting in 1999. During college, Thiele worked during the summers as a caricaturist at fairs and festivals throughout Western Illinois. After graduation, he traveled to California, where he worked as Assistant Manager for Carter Sexton Art Supplies in North Hollywood and studied animation and figure drawing at the Screen Cartoonist's Guild. He also studied figure drawing and portrait painting at Associates in Art in Sherman Oaks, CA where he studied under artist Nathan Fowkes.
Currently, Ryan Thiele resides in Ashburn, Virginia where he has taught art at Sterling Middle School since 2003. He is married to his best friend Bethany, who also teaches art at Sterling Middle School. Thiele is currently writing his first novel, which he plans to illustrate. In his free time, Thiele enjoys working in his home studio on his own collection of cartoons, drawings, and painting, as well as working on commission.