[citation needed] Born in Mali Lošinj, Croatia (at the time part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire), the son of Francesco Stanislao Martinolich and Maria Dominica Merlo, he initially studied naval architecture and received training in carpentry at the Austrian naval shipyards in Pola (present-day Pula, Croatia).
[citation needed] He arrived in the United States at the age of 23, landing in New Orleans with his brother Francesco (Frank) Martinolich.
They settled shortly after in DeLisle, Mississippi, where Matteo worked for local shipbuilder Antonio Pavolini, originally from Italy.
[citation needed] From 1907 to 1911, Martinolich also worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the Chattahoochee River in Alabama.
Through World War I and until his semi-retirement and closing of the business in about 1922, Martinolich built and designed hundreds of ships and boats; some still ply the seas today.