Howard G. Buffett grew up in Omaha , Nebraska , and has been active in business, politics, agriculture, conservation, photography and philanthropy. Buffett has authored more than half a dozen books on conservation, wildlife, and the human condition. He has had numerous articles and opinion pieces published in chronicles such as The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. Buffett serves or has served on the National Geographic Council of Advisors, World Wildlife Fund National Council, the Cougar Fund, Platte River Whooping Crane Trust Advisory Committee, Illinois and Nebraska Chapters of the Nature Conservancy, Ecotrust, Africa Foundation and the Nature Conservation Trust .

Buffett has served in elected office in Nebraska, on several United States Trade Representative Advisory Committees and as Chairman of the Nebraska Ethanol Board. He is currently a member of the Commission on Presidential Debates. He is on the corporate boards of Berkshire Hathaway, Lindsay Manufacturing and Sloan Implement Company; previously serving on the boards of Archer Daniel Midland, ConAgra Foods, and Coca Cola Enterprises. A large portion of Buffett's time is devoted to operating the Howard. G. Buffett Foundation, a private foundation established to support conservation, humanitarian and education initiatives. He operates an 840 acre farm in central Illinois, is married to Devon and has five children. Buffett has received the Aztec Eagle Award, the highest honor bestowed on a foreign citizen by the Mexican Government, an honorary PhD from Lincoln College, the Will Owen Jones Distinguished Journalist of the Year Award and has been recognized by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture as one of the most distinguished individuals in agriculture.

Buffett's photographic career began on the farm, which explains his continuing interest in agricultural images. His photographic and editorial pursuits merged in 1996 when Harvard University published his thesis, The Partnership of Biodiversity and High-Yield Agricultural Production . Eventually this led to his second book, On The Edge: Balancing Earth's Resources. On The Edge encompasses over 40 international trips and a dozen domestic trips and intends to help the reader achieve a better understanding of the interrelationships between agricultural production, human needs and the preservation of our biodiverse habitats. Following the publication of On The Edge, a longer and more personal journey began as Buffett began the work to publish his next book, Tapestry of Life. Tapestry of Life is a compilation of photographic images representing a number of years of travel to countries such as Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Rwanda, Senegal, and other parts of the world where human need is often found at its greatest. During this period, Buffett's photographic focus shifted from primarily agriculture and wildlife, to include people of all types, from all parts of the world.

Having established friendships on many trips, Buffett has revisited some countries. Occasionally, stories and time spent with individuals such as Shamoly (the cover of Tapestry of Life ) have compelled him to return and find those people who captured his heart. Regardless of the image, each person has his or her own challenges and struggles, which Buffett has tried to convey in the split second of the shutter snap of his camera.

Buffett founded the Nature Conservation Trust, a non-profit Trust in South Africa to support cheetah conservation and research, founded the International Cheetah Conservation Foundation to increase resources available for cheetah conservation and helped establish the Cougar Fund, an organization created to help preserve North America's greatest cat, the mountain lion.