Anoli Perera was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka. After her B.A in Political Science, Sociology, and Economics from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka in 1984, she did a Post Graduate Diploma in International Affairs from The Bandaranaike Center for International Studies, Sri Lanka in 1986. In 1989 she was part of – Studio Three: Adult Education Art Group. Continuing Education Program, Santa Barbara City College, California, USA and Artworks: The Visual Art School of Princeton for Continuing Education, New Jersey, USA. She also had an apprenticeship under sculptor Milt Liebson at Artworks, Princeton, New Jersey, USA. Anoli Perera has had several successful solo exhibitions since 1998 some of which are; Comfort Zones, Red Dot Gallery, Pita Kotte, Sri Lanka, 2007; Goddesses Descending, Studio @ HW Architects, Colombo, 2003; In the Entangled Web, Barefoot Gallery, Sri Lanka,2001; The Vehicle Named Woman, Heritage Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Self Help (a travelling art exhibition), Malmö, Växjö, Örebro and Stockholm in Sweden in 1998.

Amongst her several national and international group exhibitions some are Creating Commonwealth at Gallery Ragini, New Delhi 2010, Theertha Artists at Shanthi Road, Bangalore, India. Artful Resistance: Contemporary Art from Sri Lanka, Museum der Weltkulturen, Frankfurt, Germany in 2010.

She has also been a part of several international Art workshops and symposiums like the KHOJ International Artists’ Workshop, Modinagar, India. KHOJ Symposium, British Council, New Delhi, India in 1999. Visiting Artist, Faculty of Creative Arts, University of Wollongong, Australia. South Asia Conference 2002, Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester, UK in 2002. Lijiang International Artists Workshop, Lijiang, China in 2003.