Harold Mallette Dean (1907-1975), painter, printmaker, muralist, and illustrator, was born in Spokane, Washington on March 7, 1907. After graduating from high school he worked in a Spokane bank and saved his money toward tuition. He enrolled at the California School of Fine Arts in 1927 and was greatly influenced by Ray Boynton. Dean was awarded the Anne Bremer scholarship and studied at the school for over three years. According to Arthur C. Painter, Dean also studied at the Art Students' League in New York where he received a scholarship.

During the Depression he worked on the WPA Mural Project and was one of twenty-six artists selected to paint murals at San Francisco's Coit Tower. In 1935, he began a fifteen year career illustrating books for Grabhorn Press and, in 1940, he was one of twenty artists selected to make an original print for the Contemporary Graphics series published by the San Francisco Chronicle.

He taught printmaking a the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco and, after his move to Marin County, he taught at Marin Junior College in San Rafael. Dean was a member of the San Francisco Art Association and his work is represented in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, de Young Museum, New York Public Library, Spencer Museum of Art, Library of Congress, Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the University of San Francisco Library.

H. Mallette Dean died in San Rafael, California on January 6, 1975.