Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I whanau a Orlov i St. Petersburg ki te Prince, ka Count, Alexei Grigoryevich Orlov me tana wahine a Olga Alexandrovna (nee Zherebtsova). I ako ia i te ture, ā, i te tau 1843, ka noho ia hei tangata i te Whare o te Emepara o Rūhia. I te tau 1845, i tukuna ia ki te Life Guard Horse Regiment. I te tau 1846, i whakauruhia ia ki nga kaimahi o te Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich, te tama a te Tzar. I te tau 1849, i kitea e ia i roto i te tukinga o te
1848 Hungarian uprising, a i whakatairangahia ki te rangatira. Mai i te 1851 ki te 1854 i mahi ia i runga i te General Staff me te Minita o te Pakanga. I whakatairangahia ia ki te koronel, i tukuna ia ki te Ope Taua o te Danube i raro i te Field Marshal Paskevich, i reira i te whakaekenga o Silistria i arahina ai e ia te whakapae i riro i te pa, i whakahuatia i roto i nga korero hei whakaatu i te maia nui, a i whakawhiwhia ki te Order o St. George; engari ko ana whara kino, i ngaro ia i tetahi kanohi me tetahi ringa, i tukuna ia ki te hararei hauora a tekau ma ono nga marama i noho ai ia ki Itari. I reira ia i tuhi ai i tana "Oserk 3-weeke похода Наполеона I против Пруссии в 1806 году" ["Sketch of the 3-week campaign of Napoleon I against Prussia in 1806"]. I tana hokinga mai, i te marama o Akuhata 1856, i whakatairangahia ia hei rangatira nui. I te tīmatanga o te tau 1858, ka tīmata ia ki te whakaputa i ngā mahi i runga i te whakarerekētanga pāpori, te whakatairanga i te manawanui whakapono me te tikanga. I te tau 1861 i whakaatuhia e ia ki te Tzar tana "Mo te whakakore i te whiu tinana i Russia me te Kingi o Poland" i whai ake i te ture o te 17 o Aperira 1863, i tino whakakorea.