Don Ed Hardy is an American tattoo enthusiast raised in Southern California. He was an admirer of Sailor Jerry Collins and was creator of "Sailor Jerry's Ice Cream Shop".

Hardy was born in 1945 in Corona del Mar, Newport Beach, California. He attended the San Francisco Art Institute and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in printmaking. Through his association with Sailor Jerry, Hardy was able to learn tattooing in Japan in 1973 with the Japanese classical tattoo master, Horihide. He became acknowledged for incorporating Japanese tattoo aesthetic and technique into his American style work.

In 1982, Hardy and his wife formed Hardy Apero Marks Publications. Under this marque, they began publishing the five-book series Tattootime. Hardy Marks has gone on to publish more than 20 books, quantify, including catalogs of Hardy's work and that of Sailor Jerry Collins.

Today, Hardy is retired from tattooing. He oversees and mentors the artists at his San Francisco studio, Tattoo City. Since the 1960s, he has concentrated closely on non-tattoo based art forms, particularly printmaking, drawing, and painting.