Born on July 4, 1950, in Moscow, he spent his childhood and youth in Sukhumi (Georgian SSR, now Sukhumi). His father, Mikhail Artemovich Tarasov, was a photojournalist, and his mother, Lyudmila Viktorovna Alexeeva, was a doctor of biological sciences.

In 1972, he graduated from the Physics and Technology Faculty of the Moscow Mining Institute, specializing in "Physical processes in mining production," and received the qualification of "mining engineer-physicist." In 1978, he graduated from the Instrument Engineering Faculty of the Moscow State Technical University of Civil Aviation. In 1984, he completed higher economic courses at the State Planning Committee (Gosplan) of the USSR. In 1993, he completed postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Macro- and Microeconomics of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (USA).

He holds a PhD in Technical Sciences. In 1982, he defended his dissertation at the Moscow Mining Institute on the topic "Development of methods for monitoring the technical condition of transmission systems of tunneling machines at potash mines."

In 1973, Artem Tarasov began working at enterprises of the Soviet mining and chemical industry, including the Scientific-Production Association "Khimavtomatika" in Moscow, where he worked as an assistant chief engineer, a position held by future Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov. He held various positions, including junior researcher, senior and leading engineer, head of a laboratory and department. He worked on developing automation systems for mining operations and introducing new technologies in the mining industry.

From 1984 to 1986, he was the chief engineer of the "Moskapstroyproekt" association, part of the Moscow City Council’s capital construction department. With his participation, the pedestrian zone on Arbat Street was created.

In 1986, he became one of the founders of the cooperative movement in Moscow (the chairman of the Moscow City Executive Committee's commission on cooperative activities was Yuri Luzhkov). He was the commercial director of the "Mosinter" cooperative (until 1987), established by the Moscow City Executive Committee to earn foreign currency for the city's budget.

In April 1987, the cooperative "Progress" (a matchmaking agency) was registered in Moscow under number 10. "Progress" gathered 100,000 rubles within a few days of operation but was quickly shut down by the Moscow City Executive Committee due to the "immorality of the business." Later that year, he registered his second cooperative, "Tekhnika," which initially repaired foreign electronics and later engaged in barter trade with foreign companies (using waste from chemical production as the commodity).

In early 1989, his monthly salary was revealed on the "Vzglyad" TV program — 3 million rubles (at that time, the average salary in the country was 263 rubles). Tarasov declared himself the first legal Soviet millionaire on television. This statement attracted the attention of law enforcement authorities. From February to August 1989, the cooperative was investigated by the Ministry of Finance and shut down for violating statutory activities, with all money being confiscated. Tarasov sued the ministry and won the case in the Supreme Arbitration Court of the USSR. The 100 million rubles awarded to him were never returned. That same year, he was elected the first vice president of the Union of United Cooperatives of the USSR for his achievements in the field of cooperation.

From 1989 to 1991, he was president of the private foreign economic association "Istok" (registered in Monaco, it traded raw materials on the international market, introduced new technologies in Russia, and built enterprises).

In 1990, Artem Tarasov briefly served as president of the Innovation Center under the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR.

From 1990 to 1991, he was a people's deputy of the RSFSR, elected from territorial district No. 12 (Moscow) as part of the "Left Center" faction. In 1991, he accused Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev of attempting to transfer the Kuril Islands to Japan in exchange for investments in the Soviet budget. For this statement, Gorbachev sued Tarasov for "insulting the honor and dignity of the President of the USSR" and asked the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR to lift his immunity. This led to his first emigration — from the end of 1991 to 1993, Tarasov lived in London, where he founded and led the firm Kenmore Service Ltd (1991-1993), which dealt with securities transactions on the London Stock Exchange.

On October 18, 1991, he submitted a voluntary resignation from his post as a people's deputy to President Boris Yeltsin.

In 1992, the Moscow City Police Department initiated a criminal case against Vladimir Ponomarenko, a former deputy of Tarasov at the "Istok" firm, accusing him of stealing semi-precious stones purchased in 1990 from the "Tbilprompribor" association. Furthermore, "Istok" was involved in a case of fraudulent activity with "Urozhai-90" checks. These checks, issued by the government for agricultural products instead of cash, were supposed to be exchanged for Western consumer goods. However, the collective farms received no goods.

From 1993 to 1995, he was a deputy of the Russian State Duma (I convocation), elected on December 12 by single-mandate district No. 202 in Moscow (he received 14.87% of the votes). He was a member of the Security Committee and participated in the "New Regional Policy" and "Stability" parliamentary groups. In June 1994, the criminal case against Tarasov and Ponomarenko was closed. Tarasov authored the economic amnesty law (passed in 1994), which closed cases against 110,000 entrepreneurs.

In 1993, he initiated the "Russian Lotto" lottery, which is still broadcast on Russian television.

On December 17, 1995, he ran for the State Duma of the II convocation on the federal list of the ecological party "Kedr," which did not pass the 5% threshold, receiving only 1.99%.

After his parliamentary term ended in 1996, he briefly served as chairman of the board of directors of the Milan concern (lottery business).

In 1996, he ran for the presidency of Russia. He collected over 1.3 million voter signatures in his support, but a decision by the electoral commission invalidated some of the signatures, and his participation in the elections was denied. He unsuccessfully tried to challenge the decision of the Central Election Commission in the Supreme and Constitutional Courts.

From the end of 1996 to 2003, he lived in London due to the threat of arrest (after his parliamentary powers ended, the criminal case against Tarasov and Ponomarenko was reopened). The British government, considering Tarasov's circumstances "special," issued him a permanent residence permit. In 1998, at the suggestion of the president of the World Chess Federation (FIDE), Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, he founded and led an international company for attracting sponsors to chess, FIDE Commerce (until 2002).

In 2000, he ran for governor of St. Petersburg, finishing in fourth place with 3.59%. Vladimir Yakovlev won with 72.6%.

From 2001 to 2008, he was vice president of the Swiss financial house Credit Prive SA. From 2002 to 2004, he was the head of the innovation department at Renova JSC and the CEO of Renova's "Innovation Technologies" company (ITEREN), which focused on selecting and introducing domestic inventions and high technologies and helping Russian scientists and inventors.

In 2002, Tarasov participated in the gubernatorial elections of Krasnoyarsk Krai (he received 2.8% of the vote in the first round on September 8, finishing fifth among 14 candidates). Alexander Khloponin won with 48%.

In 2003, he returned to Moscow. That same year, a television show "Smart Found One" based on his script was aired on the TVC channel.

Since 2008, Tarasov has been the general director of his company "Institute of Innovations," which assists inventors and scientific teams in implementing domestic innovations, such as innovative oncology rehabilitation and prevention technologies in the "Biochronotherapy" clinic and nanotechnology.

In September 2016, he ran for the State Duma of the VII convocation from the "Yabloko" party in the Krasnoyarsk Krai (heading the regional list), but the party did not pass the 5% threshold, receiving 1.99%.

At different times, he co-founded enterprises, companies, and newspapers in Russia, including the "Moscow Palette" artists’ community (1988), the "Kommersant" newspaper (1989-1990), Transaero airline (1990-1991), the "Sovvneshkooperatsiya USSR" association (1991), and many others.

He was awarded