Yuri Paterson-Olenich was born in Brighton where he received piano lessons with Christine Pembridge, whose musical heritage stretches back to Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms. In 1991 he was awarded an exhibition to the Royal Academy of Music where he studied with the late Alexander Kelly. He subsequently continued his studies with Vladimir Tropp at the Gnessin Academy of Music in Moscow. Other teachers include Alicia de Larrocha, Alexander Satz and Tatiana Zelikman. His many performances throughout the former USSR were highly acclaimed.

Paterson-Olenich, now settled in London, is regularly invited to take part in concert series, festivals and concerto appearances across Britain, Europe and the former USSR. More recent concert activities include Yuri's participation in the international festivals Berliner Klavier Festival, Piano à Auxerre, his inclusion in a festival of British music held in Copenhagen, a tour of Kazakhstan with Tchaikovsky's First and Rachmaninov's Third piano concertos, appearances in Criccieth and Lower Machen festivals and a recital as the concluding event of the Lewes Live Literature festival in the U.K.

Yuri has recorded Collage, a concerto for saxophone, piano and orchestra by Paul Carr with the Sussex Symphony Orchestra for the Claudio label, and his CD, Scriabin: Late Piano Works was released to critical acclaim. Following this success, Yuri was invited to record a double CD of Rachmaninov's works, which was made Editor's Choice for Gramophone Magazine and 'Disc of the Week' for BBC Radio 3's CD Review programme. He is a pianist who likes to maintain as wide a repertoire as possible, encompassing the mainstream repertory, more unusual works, and music by living composers. Being an admirer of the visual arts, he has a particular interest in repertoire inspired by visual elements.