Templeton was born in Garden Grove, Orange County, California, USA. His family lived in various places in Southern California before moving to Huntington Beach. He began skateboarding in 1985 in Huntington Beach, with friend, Jason Lee. In a 2012 interview, Templeton explained the commencement of his fascination with skateboarding:

Templeton became a professional skateboarder a month before graduating from high school signing with New Deal Skateboards in 1990. He left New Deal in 1992 to initiate two short-lived companies, “TV” and “Television” (both with professional skateboarder, Mike Vallely).

Templeton married his wife, Deanna Templeton, in 1991. They both became vegetarian in 1990, vegan in 1991 and have not consumed meat or dairy products since.

Following the demise of both TV and television, Templeton founded Toy Machine in 1994, after skateboarding entrepreneur, Tod Swank, agreed to support the idea. As of January 2013, Toy Machine is distributed by Swank’s Tum Yeto company—Tum Yeto also distributes the Dekline skate shoe brand, the Pig skate wheel brand, the Ruckus skate truck brand, and the Foundation skateboard deck brand.

While running Toy Machine in the mid-1990s, Templeton joined a now-defunct skate shoe brand named Sheep. While sponsored by the company, Templeton released his first signature model shoe that was non-leather and entirely vegan. Other riders on the team were Rick McCrank, Brian Anderson, Mike Manzoori (now a skateboard videographer), and Frank Hirata. Templeton was featured in the Sheep video, Life of Leisure, released in 1996.

In 2000, Templeton’s book of photography, Teenage Smokers, won the Italian Search For Art competition and Templeton was awarded US$50,000. In both 2001 and 2011, Templeton’s artwork was featured in Juxtapoz magazine and, in 2002, the art exhibition, “The Essential Disturbance”, was held at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, France, a show that was accompanied by a 100-page book, The Golden Age of Neglect, published by Drago ( ISBN 978-8888493022).

After the Sheep brand ended around the end of the twentieth century, Templeton became sponsored by the Emerica shoe company, a brand that was launched by Sole Technology, also responsible for the etnies and eS brands (as of January 2013, the latter is on a protracted hiatus). Templeton joined other professional skateboarders, such as Andrew Reynolds, Aaron Suski, Chris Senn, and Erik Ellington, in the making of the company’s second video This Is Skateboarding, released in 2002; Templeton’s part is edited to a song by Butter 08, entitled “It’s the Rage”.

Templeton is a featured artist in “Beautiful Losers”, a project that consisted of several elements: a touring art exhibit, a collected art book and a feature documentary film, all of which include the work of various contemporary artists. A large section of the art in the Beautiful Losers project covers skateboarding and other urban themes. In 2003, Templeton, along with members of the Toy Machine team, skated on a variety of purpose-built structures—including a car—at the base of the Cincinnati Contemporary Art Center for the temporary showcase of Beautiful Losers. Templeton’s work and career are also subjects in the Beautiful Losers film.

Outside of skateboarding, Templeton is a painter, graphic designer, and photographer, areas that he has gained a reputation without any formal training—the Photography Colleges website, in an article entitled “New School Photography: Ed Templeton”, identifies Templeton as “probably the most influential contemporary photographer”. Templeton’s signature model skateboards for the New Deal company were self-designed and he subsequently became the head designer for his own brands—Templeton produces all of the art work for the Toy Machine skateboard company that, as of January 2013, is his primary skateboarding project. Templeton is also a co-editor of ANP Quarterly, an arts magazine started in 2005.

In 2008, Templeton published Deformer—the culmination of eleven years of preparation and research, in which he explores the “incubator of suburban outskirts”, Orange County, California; that is, the area in which he spent his formative years. A documentary film, entitled Deformer, was also produced and released, featuring Templeton and the directorial work of Mike Mills; Mills also collaborated with Templeton for the Beautiful Losers project.

In a January 2013 article, by Andrew Reilly for The Huffington Post, the ethos behind Toy Machine (or, the company’s full name: “Toy Machine Bloodsucking Skateboard Co.”), is described as, “an adverse reaction to the misrepresented and highly corporate images of skateboarding in popular culture”, with Templeton sardonically referring to fans of the brand as “loyal pawns”. The company’s popularity increased following inception, and tours—both domestic and international—followed. As of January 2013, the company has released a total of eleven videos (including tour and promotional videos), and sponsors a team of eleven skateboarders, including Leo Romero, Thrasher magazine’s “Skater of the Year” in 2010.

In early 2011, Templeton released a book featuring a collection of photographs, entitled Teenage Kissers. In October 2011, Templeton explained the origin of the project:

Templeton, who does all of the artwork for his brand, explained his discovery of skateboard art in a 2012 interview:

In November 2012, Templeton suffered a leg injury while participating in an Emerica demo that had the potential to end his career. Templeton used the time to prepare a photographic exhibition, later entitled “Memory Foam”, that was opened in January 2013.

In 2012, along with numerous other team riders from the RVCA clothing brand, Templeton left RVCA and joined a newly started clothing brand named “eswic”.

Templeton revealed his art influences in a 2012 interview for the FVF publication:

In a 2013 interview with The Huffington Post, Templeton clarified that his first art show was in 1993 and that he has “been skating, going on tours, painting in the studio and doing a show and sometimes a mixture of both. Sometimes going on a tour and then leaving for a few days to go to my show”, describing it as “chaos in a lot of ways.” In the same article, Templeton is counterposed to the “wholesome” depiction of Tony Hawk and the “sporting good stores”; instead, Templeton is associated with “teenage misfits”. Templeton’s painted works (and a single photograph) are featured on his Tumblr profile—maintained by the artist himself—”The Cul-de-sac of Lameness”.

On January 12, 2013, Templeton held an opening event for a photographic exhibition, entitled “Memory Foam”, at the Roberts & Tilton gallery in Culver City, California, US. Consisting of sixty-eight photographs, the show features Templeton’s impressions of the people of Huntington Beach, California, US and ended on February 16, 2013. Actor, Neil Patrick Harris, who is reportedly an admirer of Templeton’s photographic work, attended the event and clothing brand, eswic, published a video segment that was filmed at the opening.

Lucy Moore, former friend of the late London bookstore owner Claire de Rouen, selected Templeton’s book Litmus Test (Super Labo) for a tribute to de Rouen that was featured by the Modern Matter magazine in March 2013. In regard to Templeton’s photographic exploration of Russia, Moore explains: “Like litmus paper turning irreversibly red after it has been soaked in lemon juice, the photographs document the way that first impressions leave indelible marks upon our memory, shaping what follows.” Moore also writes that Templeton’s skateboarding may be responsible for the collection’s “feeling of equivalence between photographer and subject.”