Ivan Kožarić was born in Petrinja in 1921. At the age of 10, he relocated with his family to Zagreb. After graduating high school, he enrolled into the Academy of Commerce at the request of his father. Unhappy with his choice, in 1939 he switched paths and enrolled in the State Trade School’s Sculpting Department, run by professor Vanja Radauš. Radauš would go on to teach him also at the Academy of Fine Arts where Kožarić enrolled in 1943. In remembrance of its former student, the School of Applied Arts and Design held an exhibition in 2016 Ivan Kožarić – 75 years later which showed his early works. The same building houses the Museum of Arts and Crafts where Kožarić first exhibited his works in 1955.