Zhou Ruiwen (1945) was born in Hailan, Zhejiang Province. In 1970, he graduated from the Oil Painting Department of the Zhejiang Art Academy. After working in various local art institutes, he transferred to the Zhejiang Daily (浙江日报) in 1978 to work as an art editor. In 1986, he joined the art editorial board of the Qianjiang Evening News (钱江晚报).

Zhou is known for his oil paintings. Together with Zheng Shengtian and Xu Junxuan, he produced the famous fresco turned painting turned propaganda poster Renjian zhengdao shi cangsang - Mao zhuxi shicha Huabei, Zhongnan he Huadong diqude wuchan jieji wenhua da geming xingshi (‘Man’s world is mutable, seas become mulberry fields: Chairman Mao inspects the situation of the Great Proletarian Revolution in Northern, South-Central and Eastern China’, 人间正道是沧桑-毛主席视察华北、中南和华东地区的无产阶级文化大革命形势) in 1967. According to Zheng Shengtian, Zhou was responsible for painting Mao’s face.