Ivan Serebrennikov was born on the 14th of July 1882 in Znamenka, Zhigalovsky District of the Irkutsk Governorate.
On 1 January 1906 he was arrested for participating in an illegal gathering for New Years Day and was sentenced to 3 months in prison.
He was arrested in St. Petersburg for participating in the activities involving the Socialist-Revolutionary Party leading him to serve six-months of solitary confinement.
During the Russian Civil War, Serebrennikov became Chairman of the Administrative Council for short-lived Siberian Republic under Pyotr Vologodsky.
After Alexander Kolchak's coup against the Provisional All-Russian Government, Serebrennikov became Minister of Supply.