bard was born in medevi, motala municipality, sweden on 17 march 1961. after he completed his upper secondary education, bard studied in the united states and in amsterdam, netherlands. while living in amsterdam, he earned part of his living as a sex worker. bard returned to sweden to study at the stockholm school of economics from 1984 to 1989. in addition to his studies in economics, he took a strong interest in philosophy and social theory with the explicit aim of becoming a philosophy writer and lecturer.