He was born in the village of Olkhovatka near Kharkov into a cleric's family. Kotlyarevsky was brought up in an infantry regiment quartered near Mozdok. He was promoted officer for his exploits during Count Zubov's Persian Campaign in 1796. A local artist, Ivan Aivazovsky, devised Kotlyarevsky's mausoleum, while Prince Vorontsov ordered his statue to be erected in Ganja.