Julio Saldarriaga Hernandez was born in El Carmen de Viboral, Antioquia, Colombia on 3 November 1913 (claims 30 July). As a young man, he lived in various towns and cities throughout Colombia, where he found work chopping wood and making charcoal. When he was 15 years old, he met a girl named María Calista García. After three years of dating, the couple were married and would have 19 children. They remained together for 79 years until Calista’s death.

As of 2020, he had 65 grandchildren, 85 great-grandchildren, and 64 great-great-grandchildren.

Julio Saldarriaga Hernandez currently lives in Carmen de Viboral, Antioquia, Colombia, at the age of 109.