Yao Youxin (1935-1997) was born in Huzhou, Zhejiang Province. He was engaged in fine art creation since 1949. He was a professional painter in the Shanghai East China Fine Arts Publishing House in 1952. In 1954, he studied under Pan Tianshou in the Chinese Painting Department of the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts. He moved to the United States in the early 1980s and later taught at the Philadelphia Academy of Art; in 1988, he bedame an American citizen. With the support of the oil mogul Armand Hammer, he became famous. In 1985, Yao created a portrait of Mrs. Nancy Reagan visiting disabled children under the title of "Love Can Govern". Hammer presented the portrait to the president and his wife in the name of the company. He also painted portraits of Mrs. Raisa Gorbachev, the Hammers, Barbara Bush and others. He died in a car accident in the United States in 1997.

He was the brother of Yao Youduo.