Born in Georgia and presently residing in Rhode Island, Hatcher studied engineering in Nashville, then received an undergraduate degree in industrial design from Pratt Institute, Brooklyn. Following graduate studies at St. Martin’s School of Arts in London in the late 1960s, he became one of the faculty members at that prestigious institution. Hatcher later taught at Bennington College in Vermont until 1985, and in subsequent years has continued to serve as a visiting artist and lecturer at numerous college campuses. He received an honorary PhD from the State University of New York.

During his career, now spanning more than thirty years, Hatcher has been commissioned to create many major works for public sites. Starman in the Ancient Garden (1990), for example, can be seen in the plaza in front of Walnut Towers at 9th and Walnut Streets in Philadelphia, and Prophesy of the Ancients (1988) is in the sculpture garden at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. His most recent commission in 2012 was for Greensboro, NC.