OLIVA studied painting and drawing at the Academy of Plastic & Applied Arts in Pinar del Río (1961- 1965), & later graduated from the National School of Art of Cubanacán, in Havana, Cuba (1970). He is a member of the International Association of Plastic Artists (AIAP). Throughout a half century of artistic career, he has taught in the artistic education schools of his country and has been a jury of multiple national & international contests. His work has been awarded in several competitions, being exhibited worldwide. Today, a significant number of his masterpieces have become part of well known public & private collections, including the large inventory treasured by the National  Museum of Fine Arts in Havana. In 1991 he was the first artist living on the island to exhibit in New York after1959, and in 1993 his work entered the circuit of the most important auction houses such as Christie's and Sotheby's.