He was born in 1818 in the village of Seweryny, near Zviahel to father Jakub, an officer serving in the army of the Duchy of Warsaw and mother Anna Świejkowska, daughter of Voivode of Podolia Leonard Świejkowski.

He was also involved in the political activities of Polish exiles in France and collaborated with Hôtel Lambert founded by Prince Adam Czartoryski.

In 1856, he took part in the work of the commission evaluating the project of extension and modernization of Casa de Moneda in Lima, i.e. the state mint.

In addition, he published a short study on monetary topics and developed the so-called gold etalon, i.e. the metal content in the coin.

He had armored large-caliber guns from the surplus after the American Civil War and placed them on railway platforms so that they could easily change their position.

In 1868, Congress issued a new decree on the construction of the Lima-La Oroya railway line (the 10-kilometer section connecting Lima with the port of Callao had been in operation since 1851) and announced a tender to select the most advantageous offer from the financial and technical point of view.

[7] A few days after the announcement of Henry Meiggs' decree, the American entrepreneur obtained permission to conduct preliminary studies of the railway line.

[8] After eight months, on April 3, 1869, he handed over to Henry Meiggs a detailed report of the field studies carried out and a preliminary calculation of construction costs.

Watt Stewart, the biographer of Henry Meiggs, gave the number of 61 objects with a total length of 1832 m. Ernest Malinowski in his own cost estimate envisaged 45 bridges, including 3 large ones.

The railway line rose to a height of almost 5,000 m above sea level, becoming a phenomenon of the then technology, including thanks to the use of 10 "zigzags" (reversals) sections, on which the train direction changes.

All major technical magazines in the world wrote about this railway, and especially about the bridges and tunnels on its route, and Ernest Malinowski gained the fame of an outstanding engineer.

Ernest Malinowski personally supervised the works, imported materials and rolling stock, kept the accounts on an ongoing basis and corresponded with suppliers, including foreign ones.

On ropes, he ordered himself to be lowered to the bottom of the abyss to test the strength of the soil in the places where the bridge pillars were to be found; how a climber climbed the inaccessible slopes of the mountains to solve detailed technical problems on the spot and direct the robots.

Using the money of the American entrepreneur and Ernest Malinowski, the remaining tunnels were punctured, the assembly of bridges was completed and embankments were built for the tracks to Oroja itself.

In 1890, he joined the established British-dominated company Peruvian Corporation, which took over railroads built with state money to pay off debts incurred in the early 1970s.

This year, work on laying rails on tracks previously prepared by Ernest Malinowski was resumed, leading in January 1893 a railway line to the city of La Oroya.

While in Ecuador, Ernest Malinowski became one of the founding members of Club Nacional, an institution established in 1884 in Lima by influential and wealthy people.

As part of the society's activities, Ernest Malinowski participated in the development of topographic plans and maps that were used to mark the border between Peru, Ecuador and Brazil.

Due to his special career achievements, he was elected president of the Instituto Técnico Industrial in Lima, but he resigned from this position for health reasons.

There are opinions about the appointment in 1888 of Ernest Malinowski to the position of professor of the Department of Topography and the election in 1889, after Władysław Folkierski, dean of the mathematics and natural science faculty of the University of Lima.

Ernest Malinowski knew English, French and Spanish perfectly both orally and in writing - apart from Polish and Russian - and was thoroughly familiar with both classical and contemporary literature of these three languages.

He ran an open house, employed a French cook, served breakfasts and dinners to Peruvian dignitaries, foreign diplomats, scientists and journalists.

The same year, Polish filmmaker Roman Dobrzański, directed a documentary film Eagles and Condors (Orły i kondory) dedicated to the life and work of Ernest Malinowski.