Mauro Oliveira was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil and raised on the outskirts under extreme poverty, with no running water or electricity. He and his six siblings were sent to a military state-run orphanage after both parents passed away in their 30s. His passion for the United States and art started at age nine in the orphanage. His first art project, at age 10, was to paint and decorate the plain tin piggy banks that were given out for free by the banks and then selling them. Oliveira encouraged and supervised the other children to do the same and raised funds for food. He did stay out of trouble, studied hard and surmounted every obstacle on his way, dreaming of making it to America one day. He made it to college with straight A's and won a student exchange program contest sponsored by the Federal University of Uberlandia, Brazil. He studied journalism and the arts and immigrated to the U.S. in 1990.