Born in yalta on the Black Sea, Dirsh settled in the United Kingdom in 1948. As a young man he studied biological sciences and worked for many years as a microbiologist in the areas of pharmaceutical and veterinary research projects in industry.

During the late 1960's Dirsh became interesteed in art developments in the early part of the twentieth century: in particular the Bauhaus and Russian revolutionary abstracts and at this time he began planning his first paintings, setting out ideas derived from scientific imagery. Dirsh went on to develop a style high in organisational content but non literal in thematic material.