Silaev Nikolai Yakovlevich was Born in the village Novopoleva Orel region.
In 1976 graduated from Department of monumental and decorative painting of the Kharkov art-industrial Institute.
Since 1980 member of the Union of artists of Russia. Participated in 30 regional, all exhibitions. His works were also exhibited at international exhibitions: Poland, Bulgaria, Germany, Finland, USA, Netherlands, Syria, Hungary, France. The paintings and drawings created by the artist in recent years are in private collections in Russia, Yugoslavia, Italy, Lebanon, South Korea, Israel, Sweden, South Africa, Japan, France, Holland, Syria.
Over the years, the artist had created a large number of works made in the schedule: this is a series of etchings executed in a specific and original manner and philosophically generalized involving acute human problems and its relationship with the surrounding world. In the paintings the artist has managed to achieve greater excellence in the depiction of landscapes of his native land, with no lasting spiritual value for different generations of people living in the Oryol region.
In the 80-ies the artist actively worked in monumental painting. He made paintings in many museums of the Orel region, decorated the interiors of various establishments of city and region.
At the moment, Silaev N. I. is one of the leading painters of the city of eagle, working in the traditional Russian realistic style, his works mostly belong to the genre of landscape, which is appreciated by viewers and collectors.