The Harold D. Foster lives with his wife Sarah and cat McNuff in Victoria, British Columbia. A Canadian by choice, he was born in Tunstall, Yorkshire, England where he was educated at the Hull Grammar School and University College London. While at university, he specialized in geology and geography, earning a B.Sc. in 1964 and Ph.D. in 1968 from London University.

He has been a faculty member in the Department of Geography, University of Victoria, since 1967. A tenured professor, he has authored or edited some 250 publications, the majority of which focus on reducing disaster losses or identifying the causes of chronic disease or longevity. He has published hypotheses on the origins of numerous diseases including myocardial infarction, SIDS, cancer, diabetes, schizophrenia, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, stroke, and AIDS.