Ivari was born on Olith, a moon of Andoria known for it's shipyards, to parents that were engineers that privately owned and operated their own docking repair bay. As a child, he enjoyed watching the ships being constructed, with dreams of growing up and working in starship construction himself. At the age of 17, a badly damaged Starfleet scoutship landed in his parents bay for repairs. He was awe-struck by its fluidic design, which he described as a "work of art." This ship inspired him to apply to Starfleet Academy a year later, to which he was accepted.