A student of Keneth Jamison at Annadale Grammar School, 1954-61, Brian Ballard went on to study at the Belfast College of Art 1961-64 and Liverpool College of Art 1964-65. In 1968 he joined the staff of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. He was a Carroll Prizewinner in the Irish Exhibition of Living Art in 1970.

In 1973 he was commissioned by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland to design a poster-poem in collaboration with the poet John Montague. His work is presented in An Chomhairle Ealaion, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland Collection, the P J Carroll & Co. Collection, Crawford Municipal Art Gallery, Cork, the University of Ulster and the Ulster Museum.