Luigi Oliva holds a degree in ethnomusicology from the Palestrina Conservatory in Cagliari, where he has taught disciplines linked to the musical traditions of Sardinia and of Europe and beyond, including Instruments and Singing of Musical Traditions, Instrumental and/or Vocal Practice on Traditional Repertoires, and Improvised Creation Practices in Traditional Cultures. He is currently a professor of Performance Practices and Repertoires for the instrument (Voice) and of Instrumental and/or Vocal Practice on Traditional Repertoires at the same Conservatory.

As a researcher in ethnomusicology, he has carried out studies on polyphonic singing of oral tradition in Sardinia, taking part in the MODAS and TEDIMUS projects and exploring topics such as pregadorias, sung rosaries, the choral practice of the Nuoro school, and traditional vocal practices. He has also conducted research in Equatorial Guinea on the Fang Mass. In 2022 and 2023 he took part in the Network of UNESCO Cultural Spaces Joint Staff Training Event in Estonia, Latvia, Croatia, Georgia, Portugal, and Sardinia.

A singer of oral tradition, he is committed to the dissemination and transmission of Sardinian oral tradition music, especially polyphonic singing (cuncordu, tenore, tragiu, taja, etc.). A singer since the 1970s, since 2003 he has been artistic director of the cultural association Coro di Bosa, with which he organises concerts and cultural events on the practice of polyphonic singing. He is an advisor to the Cuncordu Sas Enas of Bortigali, runs a four-voice singing workshop at the University of Cagliari as well as oral tradition singing workshops in Sardinia and abroad, and is frequently invited as a speaker at conferences on Sardinian oral tradition music.

A founding member of the CAMPOS association, dedicated to safeguarding and transmitting the oral tradition musical arts of Sardinia, he currently serves as its president. He has also directed several choirs of popular inspiration: the Pitanu Morette choir of Tresnuraghes (1998 to 2010), the Terra Mea university choir of Cagliari (2001 to 2016), and the Sos Ordinagos choir of Belvì (2007 to 2020). He currently directs the Stella Splendens women’s choir of Belvì (NU).

In 2012, together with ethnomusicologists Roberto Milleddu and Ignazio Macchiarella, he edited volumes XV and XVI of the Encyclopaedia of Sardinian Music, published by Unione Sarda and dedicated to Sardinian choral music of popular inspiration.