Rovenolt was born in 1949 and grew up on a Pennsylvania dairy farm. As early as age ten, he knew that he wanted to become an artist. His higher education began at Tyler School of Art, Temple University. During his Junior Year he studied abroad at Temple Rome Italy. BFA: 1971. Rovenolt was awarded an MA at the University of Illinois in 1972.
The artist moved to Boston’s South End in 1974 and has had a studio at the Boston Center for the Arts since that time. In 1984, his partner Ken Clark and he formed the company Pyrotechnology, a firework design and production firm. Their clients included Boston’s Fourth of July, First Night, Harborfest and Festival of Fireworks and Fountains, Longwood Gardens, PA. Film projects included the Merchant- Ivory Production, “The Bostonians”.