Sergei Erlish was born in Abadzekhskaya settlement. His mother was a saleswoman at a local store. His father, an artist by education, became a political prisoner and spent about 7 years in labor camps. He was later rehabilitated and had all his awards reinstated.

In 1975, he attempted to get into the Krasnodar Agricultural Institute to study construction. Having failed the exam, Sergei returned to his settlement and became a tractor driver at the local state-owned farm. Next year he managed to get into college, but dropped out after half a year and returned to Abadzekhskaya once again.

Sergei loved horses, so he got a job as a groom at the "Romantika" tourist camp. Now that place is a fully restored and functioning Svyato-Mikhailovsky monastery. Sergei took tourists on riding trips and cared for the horses. Still, it didn't work out: two horses got stolen from the pasture, so Sergei had to quit the job.

He returned to Abadzekhskaya and continued to work as a tractor driver until 1985. He'd go to the local culture club on Saturdays and have dance parties with his musician friends. Sergei's wife Valentina studied to become a graphic artist and worked at the state farm with the husband, drawing and painting Soviet propaganda posters.

Together with his family, Sergei Erlish tends to his lot of land, had a garden and some cattle. When his son got old enough, they bought some bees and started a honey farm. The homestead grew and eventually became a big property in the Adygea mountains, by the road that leads to the Lago-Naki plateu, where Sergei sells his honey to tourists and visitors to Adygea.

In 2019, he made his film debut as an old man in Sevgili Yoldaşlar (2020) by Andrey Konchalovskiy.