Julian Forrest received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Mount Allison University (Sackville, New Brunswick) in 1995. In 1996, after a year in South Korea, he returned to Sackville to undertake a curatorial internship at the Owens Art Gallery, and resume his art career. In 1997, the Owens Art Gallery published his curatorial essay on Canadian artist David Milne. That year, he also received the prestigious Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Award — an award he would receive again in 2000, and for a third time in 2002.

In 2005, Forrest received his Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Alberta (Edmonton, Alberta). In addition to the Alberta Foundation for the Arts Graduate Scholarship and other awards, Forrest received the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), Canada Graduate Scholarship while pursuing his degree.

Forrest has written for art journals, was an arts reporter for CBC radio, and currently teaches art, while pursuing his studio practice. He is a co-founder of the group vanity3, whose latest project involved using ten transit buses in Edmonton to display large-scale photographs around the city. Forrest’s paintings have been the focus of several group and solo exhibitions, and are held in private and public collections across Canada.