The eldest child of father Mohan Prasad and mother Madhumaya Oli, KP Oli lost his mother at the age of four to smallpox which was spread like an epidemic then. After the death of his mother, Oli’s grandmother Rammaya had brought him up.
Prime Minister Oli’s childhood name was Dhruba. While enrolling in school, his parents changed his name to Khadga Prasad. He studied up to the fifth grade at local Pranami Middle School.
According to his childhood friends, KP Oli was a smart kid from the beginning and had a sharp mind. He liked playing chess and encouraged others to take up the game as it helped in brain development, they recall.
Besides, Oli also enjoyed playing football and used to make balls out of rags. He was good at scoring goals after successful dribbles, his childhood friend and distant nephew Padam Prasad Oli said. Those days, he liked writing nationalistic poems and reading those to friends, Padam Prasad continued.
With help from communist leader Ramnath Dahal, Oli migrated to Jhapa in 1963 at the age of 12. Dahal was later killed in Sukhani Murders. Having been influenced by Marxist and Leninist philosophies, Oli entered communist politics in 1966.
Oli went underground in 1970 after taking membership of Nepal Communist Party. The same year, he was arrested for the first time by the Panchayat government. In 1971, he took leadership of Jhapa Rebellion which was initiated by beheading landlords in the district. Between 1973 and 1987, Oli spent total 14 years behind bars in different jails in the country.
After his release, he became the central committee member of CPM-ML. In 1989, Oli took upon the responsibility of party’s Lumbini zone chief.
Following 1990 democratic movement that brought down the Panchayat regime, Khadga Prasad Oli became a popular name in the country. In 1991, he became the founding chairman of Prajatantrik Rastriya Yuwa Sangh. A year later, he became the party’s publicity department chief and established himself as a key figure in Nepali politics.