Liu Dawei (1945) was born in Zhucheng, Shandong Province and graduated from the Arts Department of the Inner Mongolia (Nei Menggu) Normal University in 1968. He continued his study of national painting in 1978, when he entered the Central Art Academy as a research student. After his graduation in 1980, he was assigned to work in the People's Liberation Army Art Academy.

Liu usually makes Chinese paintings, some of which have been awarded prizes or have been included in the collection of the China Art Gallery.