Boris Markarov was a Soviet water polo player and later worked in the construction of energy supply systems. Markarov was born in Volkhov in 1935 and moved to Leningrad in 1941 with his family, surviving the siege of Leningrad. After World War II he began to play water polo at his local youth sports school. During the early 1950s he played for several youth teams and won a USSR title in his age group. Markarov was part of the Soviet team that won the bronze medal at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.
After ending his sports career Markarov went on to graduate from the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute in 1963. He worked as a general director from 1976 to 1991, before becoming the deputy general director of a federal state company from 2006 to 2016. Markarov made huge contributions to the construction and development of systems dealing with energy supply to cities in the Leningrad region. Markarov was bestowed with multiple honours including the Honored Master of Sports, the medal for Veteran of Labour, and the Order of Friendship of Peoples.