Naushad Waheed was born in Male', the capital of the Republic of Maldives, on December 15th, 1962 to a middle class Maldivian family.

Early years
Naushad took his first art lessons in 1976 under the supervision of the art master Mr. Swampilley in Majeediya School. Naushad's interest in art further grew due to his appreciation and admiration of his art master, and after meeting Noonu Thaa Ahamed Didi, another renowned Maldivian master artist. In 1978 he had several chances to visit south India and was deeply influenced by the work of the great master Ravi Varma.

After working as a freelance illustrator for school textbooks and short stories, at the age of 18 Naushad received the award of best pencil, pen and ink artist of the year at the 1980 Maldivian National Art Exhibition. In the same year he received the award for best all-round artist of his school. In 1982, Naushad was sent to Indonesia to follow an apprenticeship in business, where he discovered many Asian Masters and some of the European masters, especially the work of Salvador Dali. By the time he returned to the Maldives he had put aside all thought of a business career and resumed work as a commercial artist. As a painter and craftsmen he developed his skills by selling his works to the tourism industry where his work was greatly appreciated.  In 1986 Naushad had the opportunity of taking part in the 4th South Asian art biennial, which was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh which became a turning point in his career as he moved more towards contemporary abstracts.

Suzanne Pruner, a novelist from California, USA, met Naushad in the Maldives in 1987 and funded his study at Art Instruction School in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. He then did illustrations for her folk stories. Naushad's Palm Climber won a prize at the annual art competition at Art Instruction School, Minneapolis in 1989. He was awarded the Blue Ribbon Art Award for outstanding achievement in the development of artistic skills in 1990. He had his basic art training from Art Instruction School in 1989 and took his Fundamental of Arts in 1990.

Political Upheavel
In late 1990, Naushad was taken prisoner for drawing a political cartoon in a weekly magazine and spent almost three and a half years in prison and under house arrest. During this period in prison Naushad composed the painting Minerat. His paintings thus became intensely political and reflect the suffering he experienced as a political prisoner.  Naushad was subsequently declared a Prisoner of Conscience by the Amnesty International. After his release, in 1993 he painted a large controversial portrait of the then President of the Republic of Maldives.

His art studio Naushad Arts Pvt. Ltd. was established in 1996 and In 1999 he founded Naushad's Academy of Fine Arts, a relatively informal school for artists.

In 2001 Naushad was yet again arrested and after trial without access to a lawyer or the opportunity to defend himself, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. He was charged with treason, reportedly because of his involvement in public debates that were deemed critical of the government and his correspondence with Amnesty International detailing human rights abuses. During the period in prison Naushad painted several paintings depicting horrific scenes of torture inflicted on him and others, including children. The paintings were then smuggled out and preserved in his private collection. He was released in February 2006. Since then he has completed a Masters in Public Arts in the University of Bolton, UK.

With the establishment of democracy in the Maldives after the first multiparty elections in 2008 which led to the defeat of the 30 year old dictatorship, Naushad was offered the post of Deputy High Commissioner in the High Commission of Maldives in London where he is currently in charge of the Cultural Affairs desk.

Naushad is married to Aishath Hussain, and has two boys, Nabi and Akyas.