Born in Honolulu in 1937, Fred Salmon grew up in Hawaii. His early interest in art was manifested by copying cartoons as a child and progressing to drawing portraits of people from photographs while in high school. Although having a strong interest in the visual arts, he went on to study engineering at the University of Hawaii where he received his bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering. After a career in the telecommunication industry and later as a consultant engineer specializing in microwave and satellite transmission, Fred retired and set to build an avocation in fine art.

Although considered self-taught, he pursued his early passion in art through studies with the late Franz Griessler, an Austrian-born artist and a contemporary of Egon Schiele. He also took several workshops with the noted watercolorist Robert E. Wood and oil painters T. M. Nicholas, Kevin MacPherson, and Ken Auster. Watercolor was his choice of medium when he started painting, but in 1997 he shifted his focus to oil painting. Whether the subject matter is landscape, seascape, figure, portrait, or still life, Fred strives to capture the essence of mood and the elusive quality of light in his art.

As a member of the Hawaii Watercolor Society and Association of Hawaii Artists, his paintings have won numerous awards in local juried exhibitions. In the July 2001 issue of the American Artist magazine, his art work of portraits were featured in an interviewed article. Fred was also invited to participate in the fourth edition of the Biennale of Florence, Italy. In 1999 the Hawaii Book Publishers Association awarded him for excellence in children's book illustration for the book, Kolea: The Story of the Pacific Golden Plover. Fred's art is collected locally and abroad, as well as by the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts.