[1] He graduated with honors from the Faculty of Biology of the N. I. Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod in 1960.
From 1968 to 1971, Orlov served as the Dean of the Faculty of Biology of the N. I. Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod.
From 1974 to 1989, Orlov headed the Department of Physiology and Biochemistry of Humans and Animals at the N. I. Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod.
From 1988 to 2012, Orlov headed the Department of Physiology and Biochemistry of Animals at the Nizhny Novgorod State Agriculture Academy.
[1] Orlov is the author 400 published scientific works including 20 monographs and textbooks.