O N V Kurup  was  born on May 27, 1931 as the  son of O N Krishna Kurup and   K Lakshmikutty  Amma  at  Chavara,  Kollam. He had his  schooling at Chavara.   Took  his  bachelor's   degree in Economics, from S N College, Kollam  and later on M A in  Malayalam  Literature  from  Trivandrum University College. His first  published poem was 'Munnottu' (Forward) in  1946 and his  poetic career can   be traced  back to his school days.

  When   he   was   only   eight,  he  lost  his  father  who  was  also  his   first   guru   both  in   Malayalam   and   Sanskrit.   His  first   poetry  collection was   'Porutunna Soundaryam' in 1949.

  After his college education he joined the Maharaja's College, Kochi as Lecturer   in  1957.  He  served  as  Lecturer  in Universty College, Trivandrum, Arts and   Science  College, Kozhikode, Government Brennun College, Thalasseri and was   Head of  the Department of the Government Women's College, Trivandrum. He   was visiting Professor of Calicut University for one year and retired on May 21,   1986.

  In  addition  to  this, O N V  had  composed  and  is  still composing songs for   Malayalam films and received state awards for best lyricist 12 times, but later   on withdrew from the competition.