OLNEY KARVAJAL was born in La Union, Valle del Cauca, Colombia in 1954. From his youth he gave himself to painting and in 1975, at the age of 21, he  dedicate himself professionally to his art. At that point, he decided to travel his country, particularly the Eastern "Llanos", offering to the towns visited his artistic services, leaving his mark in all the visited municipalities through his diverse works and murals.

In 1986, he was invited to present artworks to participate in an auction, which included works of the great Colombian masters BOTERO and OBREGON. The objective of the auction was to raise funds to construct a clinic for ELKIN PATARROYO, who later discovered at the clinic the vaccine for malaria. In 1990, Karvajal decided to settle down in Bogotá and there mounted his workshop.

In Bogotá, the artist began to present his works on permanent exhibition in Usaquen's famous arts and crafts market in the rich northern part of the city where he still participates in its cultural committees and presents his artistic works.

In recent years the artist was selected to present his work on the Christmas cards of the Children's Heart Foundation, the sale of which contributes to the raising of funds to help children with heart problems. In 1998, his works were presented exclusively and have since been included every year since then. Additionally, in the year 2000 Karvajal celebrated the first "No Car" day in the Colombian capital with the mayor of Bogotá, Enrique Peñalosa, dedicating an artwork to the city on this theme of public importance.