Ovanes was born in Russian Armenia, and was taught how to paint by his father who was a noted artist and professor. Following the death of his father, his mother moved the family to the United States, where he was awarded a scholarship to study with master artist Sergei Bongart. Bongart taught him color relationships, and the fundamentals of hues and values, which he applied to painting the landscape and its moods, and also to beautiful still lifes.

Ovanes paints mostly outdoors where he have capture the light and natural color of the landscapes and still life setups. His paintings are a combination of traditional realism and expressionism, and he is the master of simplification, reducing the subject to its most fundamental and poetic form.

Ovanes lives in Idaho, and travels to Europe each year.