Yaroslav Lesiv was born in the village of Luzhkiv, (Ukrainian Лужків), in Dolyna Raion, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast of Western Ukraine.
Early on 3 October 1977 Lesiv joined the Ukrainian Helsinki Group.
[4] Just before his release was due, Lesiv was again sentenced for possession of drugs and this time given a further five years' imprisonment.
From the late 1980s, Lesiv was working towards the restoration of the Ukrainian Catholic church.
In 1989, Lesiv visited Moscow twice - including a hunger strike protesting the illegal status of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.