In his birth certificate, the future actor was recorded as Andrei Tusov.

Boltnev first appeared on the silver screen in 1983 when he played the role of the vibrant Captain Gavrilov in the film by Semyon Aranovich Torpedo Bombers.

The actor became widely known after the film My Friend Ivan Lapshin directed in 1984 by Aleksei German was released, in which Boltnev starred in the title role.

The real popularity was brought to Boltnev by the television series Confrontation (1985) based on the novel by Julian Semyonov, where Andrei Boltnev played a major role, the traitor Krotov.

In 1985, the actor who worked then in Novosibirsk, received an invitation to the metropolitan Mayakovsky Theatre.