David Thauberger was born in Holdfast, Saskatchewan. He studied ceramics at the University of Saskatchewan, Regina Campus, where ceramic sculptor David Gilhooly served as an early mentor, inspiring Thauberger and others to create art that was rooted in their own life experience and their own geographical region. He earned his BFA in 1971 and his MA in 1972 from California State University (Sacramento). He then studied with Rudy Autio at the University of Montana in Missoula, earning his MFA in 1973.
Thauberger was invested as a Member of the Order of Canada in 2008, and is a recipient of the Lieutenant Governor's Saskatchewan Artist Award in 2009 and the Queen's Diamond Medal in 2012. A member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, Thauberger's achievements were further recognized when he was awarded the Saskatchewan Order of Merit, and again in 2017 when he received a Canada 150 Award.
