[1] He is the father of Ara Dinkjian and has appeared with his son as well as other Armenian musicians such as Roupen Altiparmakian playing oud.
[2][3] He was born Jean-Joseph Miliyan in Paris, France, in 1929, the son of Garabed and Zorah from Dikranagerd (Diyarbakir), who both fled the Armenian genocide.
In Germany he was assigned to the Winged Victory Chorus, a well-known group led by Joe Baris that performed a wide range of choral works, from composers including Puccini, Debussy, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and Irving Berlin.
"For a year and a half in Germany all I did was travel from one city to another with some famous American stars, like Eddie Fischer and Danny Kaye, all because of the music, my singing."
When he returned from the army, Onnik opened a dry cleaning store and married Araksi Maksian (Mghsian) from Lyon, France, whose roots were in Kharpert.