Vladislav Alekseevich Ermolaev was born in 1939 in Vyshni Volochek, Kalinin region, Russia. He studied at the Kharkov Art Institute, graduating in 1967. He moved to Petrozavodsk, Karelia in 1968, where he continues to live and work. He began exhibiting his works no later than 1971. He is also known as a graphic artist.