Andrey Nikolov was born in Vratsa on the 29 of April 1896 - old style, (May 12 - new style) in the home of a poor shoemaker. In 1896 he joined the School of Painting in Sofia and was in Boris Schatz's class , with whose recommendation he later went to study in Paris with a state scholarship. In 1914, after completing his studies in Paris, he settled in Rome, where he quickly integrated himself into the creative circle around the Free Art Academy.
At first, Andrey Nikolov was sent to Rome to monitor the preparation of the клишетата за гербови марки ordered by the Bulgarian state. The outbreak of World War I, however, caused his business trip to Rome to continue until 1919. After 1919, Andrey Nikolov remained in Rome at his own expense until 1927.
From 1915 to 1926, Andrey Nikolov regularly presents his works at the Annual Roman Exhibition. In 1922 he was elected as a member of the jury of the exhibition and later as a representative of foreign artists in the Governing Council of the International Association of Artists in Rome. Among the friends and people he associates with during this period are the famous Italian sculptor Sartorius, the writer Francesco Sappori, George Nourijan and the sculptor Arnoldo Zochi. His frequent guests are Alexander Balabanov, Rayko Aleksiev, Majdrakov.
In 1919, on his way back from France after the signing of the Treaty of Neuilly, Alexander Stamboliiski, then the Prime Minister of Bulgaria, visited Andrei Nikolov in Rome. Impressed by his work, Alexander Stamboliiski urges him to return to Bulgaria. "You will come to Sofia, we will make statues and busts of all our deserving people, from the Renaissance to the present day," Stamboliiski commends. In 1921-22, Andrey Nikolov sculpted Stamboliiski's bust, and later, in 1927, he returned to Bulgaria. As a professor at the Academy of Arts in Sofia from 1931 to 1940, Andrey Nikolov managed to create his own school where he was educating followers of his exquisite style of sculpting.