Son of Julio Silva Vargas and Mercedes Solar Ruiz-Tagle. He completed his primary and secondary studies at the schools of the French Fathers in Viña del Mar and the Sponsorship of San José in Santiago. After finishing his school years at college San Ignacio, he entered the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, being sworn in as a lawyer in 1951. At this time, he was president of the National Confederation of University Students in 1951.