Following a primary school education in Boston, H.O. Walker pursued a mercantile career until 1879. That year he traveled to Paris to study with L‚on Bonnat for three seasons, spending his summers in Brittany. Returning to Boston in 1882, he opened a studio, but several years later he relocated to New York City. He was elected to the Society of American Artists in 1887. The National Academy recognized his talent at figure painting in 1895 when it awarded him the Clarke Prize.
Walker is known for his ideal mural compositions, the first of which appeared in the Library of Congress. Other decorations were painted for the Minnesota State Capitol Building, the Massachusetts State House, and the Appellate Court Building, New York City. The major influence on this work was Pierre Puvis de Chavannes. Walker lived in Lakewood New Jersey for over two decades; he passed his summers in Windsor, Vermont, and during the last decade of his life, Belmont Massachusetts.
