A well-known Soviet specialist on the problem of human survival in extreme natural conditions. After graduation from Army Medical College named after S. M. Kirov in 1946 he became a doctor-paratrooper. In 1949 he was attached to the head administration of the Northern shipping routes and since that time he devoted himself to Arctic. In 1949 and 1950 he took part in high-latitude air expeditions to the Center polar basin. During the expedition on May, 9 1949 he made the first in the world parachute jump on the North Pole together with A. P. Medvedev. In autumn of 1950 he worked on "North Pole – 2" station on the Pole of relative inaccessability, in 1954 – 1955 – on drifting station "North Pole – 3".

In 1952 V. G. Volovich worked in the State research experimental institute of aviation medicine for the Department of Defense, where he came to grips with the problem of air and space crew life support after a emergency leave of an aircraft.

When he became the head of the survival lab he organized dozens of hard expeditions to Arctic, taiga, deserts, Viet Nam jungles, tropical zone of the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic oceans. There in conditions of autonomous existance, which were greatly close to real ones, most complex experiments on the survival were conducted, during which there studied a behaviour of person in extreme conditions of natural ambience, particularities of influence of different disadvantage factors of natural ambience upon the organism, tried staff and experimental emergency equipment, emergency food rations and etc. Obtained materials allowed to develop memorandums, instructions for pilots and spacemen, recommendations on announcing and using the natural facilities for the life activity support.

In 1960 s V. G. Volovich was at the head of a group of physicians-paratroopers, participated in operations on the searching and rescuing the spacemen. Vitaly Georgievich was the first physician, who conducted a physical examination for Yury Gagarin after his return to the Earth. He made an examination of cosmonauts Nikolaev and V. Bykovsky on the site of landing, when he went down to them with the parachute.

After demobilisation from the army V.G. Volovich worked in the Institute for medico-biological problems, taking up work on preparing the spacemen and instructing on survival matters.

Vitaly Georgievich published over 250 scientific works, including 15 monographs, in co-authorship textbooks and teaching aids on aircraft and cosmic medicine as well. The best of them are "Life support of crews of flying machines after emergency landing and splash-down", "Human in extreme conditions", "Face to face with nature", "Academy of survival". He is one of the co-authors of joint Soviet-american work "Basics of cosmic biology and medicine". A number of science-fiction novels such as "30th meridian", "On the Pole", "On the verge of risk" and others came out from his skilful pen. In the end of 1998 his dramatic novel about the work on a drifting station "North Pole 2" - "The Secret Pole".

Vitaly Georgievich is a doctor of medical sciences, full member of Russian academy of cosmonautics after. K.E.Tsiolkovsky, honourable polarman, a member of Russian Geographical society, New-York research club , union of journalists. He is awarded with orders of Lenin, Red Banner, Labor Red Banner Order, Order of Great Patriotic War, three Orders of Red Star and 20 medals. For the direct participation in preparing of the space flights the Cosmonautics Federation awarded him with Y. A. Gagarin Diploma and 5 medals. He is a parachute instructor, has made 175 parachute jumps.

In 1999 50 years have passed since the day of the historical jump on the Pole. He celebrated this event on the North Pole amongst ice and snow of Arctic.