Ilie Oană was born on 16 August 1918, being nicknamed "Americanul" (The American) because his place of birth was in Indiana Harbor to Romanian parents who emigrated from Transylvania before the outbreak of World War I.

[1][2][3][4][5][6] He then joined Divizia A club, Juventus București where he made his debut under player-coach Coloman Braun-Bogdan on 12 September 1937 in a 6–2 away loss in front of Universitatea Cluj.

[1][2][5][14][15][16][17][18] Ilie Oană made two appearances for Romania, making his debut under coach Virgil Economu in a friendly which ended 2–2 against Hungary in October 1939.

[4] From 1969 until 1971, Ilie Oană had his only experience coaching abroad in Greece at Alpha Ethniki side, Panserraikos, afterwards returning for a third and final spell at Petrolul, leaving the team after two seasons in which it earned mediocre results.

[1][2][3][4][5][27] He ended his coaching career in Divizia B with two unsuccessful spells at Farul Constanța and Gloria Buzău, being unable to help them promote to the first league.