Aleksandr Bereznyak was born on 29 December 1912 in Boyarkino, Ozyorsky District, Moscow Oblast.

Bereznyak was a graduate of the Moscow Aviation Institute named after Sergo Ordzhonikidze (1938).

While working in the bureau, he designed the first soviet jet, the BI-1, which was equipped with liquid fuel to power a rocket engine.

Other his developments include: In March 1957 he was assigned to lead the newly established MKB Raduga in the village of Ivankovo, Moscow Oblast.

This had started in 1951 as Branch 2 of Artem Mikoyan's OKB-155 to produce the KS-1 Komet missile.