He attended Myndlistaskóli Íslands in Reykjavik between 1957-58. In 1959-1963 he attended the Royal Danish Academy of Art in Copenhagen. Through the years he has held a number of exhibitions and his paintings are to be found in several museums. In 1986 he was awarded the Henry Heerup prize.
His paintings were featured on a series of stamps in June 2001:<gallery>Image:Faroe_stamp_399_zacharias_heinesen_-_sunrise.jpg|SunriseImage:Faroe_stamp_397_zacharias_heinesen_-_uti_a_reyni.jpg|Úti á ReyniImage:Faroe_stamp_396_zacharias_heinesen_-_the_artist's_mother.jpg|The artist's mother</gallery>
His work can also be seen on the 200 Faroese kronur bank note issues in 2004:<gallery></gallery>