He attended University of Southern California on a football scholarship where he studied painting and graduated cum laude.
Out of college, D'Ambrosi worked nine years in the art department of Douglas Aircraft, after which he founded and operated his own printing and design business while painting and sculpting part-time.
D'Ambrosi is well known for 'The Fallen Warrior', a companion piece to Arizona's Vietnam Veterans' Memorial, which stands outside the state capital.
On 1 August 1986, D'Ambrosi died after a brief illness due to blood cell abnormalities suspected to be caused by years of working toxic art materials.
At the time of his death, he was about to begin the final clay model of 'Jacob's Ladder', a 20-foot-high (6.1 m) sculpture for the American Merchant Marine Veterans Memorial.