Born in Nantes on 28 March 1943, to artist Jean Boulard and his wife Marthe Savoyant-Boulard.

Boulard graduated from Lycée Henri-IV and attended Sciences Po, where he studied sociology and ethnology.

Boulard worked for the French Merchant Navy, then returned to the Council of State.

He was elected to the Sarthe departmental council in 1976, and became president of Le Mans Métropole in 1983, representing the Socialist Party–Radical Party of the Left coalition.

[7] Boulard fell ill in early 2018,[8] remaining mayor of Le Mans until his death in the city on 1 June 2018, aged 75.