Although born in Stalin-imposed exile in Kazakhstan, Daud Magomedovich Akhriev returned with his family to the Northern Caucasus when he was eight. He began art grammar school that year and later attended art high school in Vladikavakaz. After mandatory service in the army, he entered the Repin Institute in St. Petersburg where he studied from 1984 to 1992. Upon his graduation, he and American artist Melissa Hefferlin came to Apison, Tennesee to live and work.

Akhriev has taught at Daniel Graves' Florence Academy of Art in Italy and has lectured at the New York Academy of Figurative Art. He has done commissions and exhibited throughout the United States. His paintings can be found in several permanent collections including the Hunter Museum of American Art (Chattanooga), the Repin Institute's museum, Southern Adventist University, Collegedale Seventh-Day Adventist Church, and the Chattanooga River Gorge Trust.

Akhriev frequently returns to Russia to visit his family, including his son, Timur, who is studying at the middle school of art associated with the Repin.

His works have been published in various books and journals, including:

- "Tradition Rediscovered." CommonPlace Publishing, New Canaan, CT.