Basil Rashley Ede is an English wildlife artist specialising in avian portraiture. Ede's interest in drawing began early in life. As a schoolboy growing up during the Second World War, he filled his exercise books with sketches of military aircraft and unflattering caricatures of his school teachers. He was educated at St John's School, Leatherhead. He later attended Kingston School of Art in Surrey.

However, in 1949, he was called up for compulsory military service in the British Army, becoming a commissioned officer. On leaving the army in 1951, Ede joined the Merchant Navy, taking a job as a purser on board the Orient Line ship Empire Orwell. The ship's established route was between Southampton and Japan, via Suez, Columbo...