Alan Franklin was born in Oxford. He studied sculpture at St Martin's School of Art, West Surrey College of Art and Design, and Goldsmith's University. Since completing his MA in 1984, he has exhibited widely in the UK and abroad, including exhibitions in India, Japan, Sweden and Poland. He works for both indoor and outdoor venues, using a wide range of materials and found objects. Examples of his larger outdoor work can be seen at Grizedale Forest in Cumbria, the Gardens of Gaia in Kent, and Kielder Forest in Northumberland. He was a founding member of the Chiltern Sculpture Trail, and Trustee from 1990 to 1998. He is currently a senior lecturer on the BA Fine Art course at Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College.