Born the son of a small merchant from Orenburg, Ivanov began his career in business at the age of fifteen as an errand boy.

He owned plants in Tashkent that produced artificial ice and mineral water, as well as distilleries of vodka.

Having bought the Degress estate near Tashkent, Ivanov organized winemaking events there and began to produce vintage wines.

Ivanov built the Savinkov-Ivanov Chemical-Pharmaceutical Plant, and heavy equipment was carried from Altona, Hamburg to Shymkent through Orenburg on camel-drawn wagons with specially designed wheels and axels.

For many decades, Ivanov was looked up to as an elder by businesspeople in Tashkent, receiving the honorary title of Commerce Advisor.

Olga (later married to Orenburg merchant Nikifor Prokofievich Savinkov) (died October 27, 1915) was the co-owner of the santonin factory in Shymkent and the first female chemical engineer and pharmacist in Russian Turkestan.