Roja Dove was born in Sussex in 1956 and spent his teenage pocket money on small bottles of scent. He dropped out of university and kept writing to the great French perfumers until Robert Guerlain offered him a job, and in 1981 he joined Guerlain's training and public relations department. He stayed almost twenty years, became the first person outside the Guerlain family to be its global ambassador, and was known as Professeur de Parfum.
In 2004 he opened the Roja Dove Haute Parfumerie on the sixth floor of Harrods, and in 2011 he founded his own house in Mayfair, now ROJA London. ROJA Parfum brings together the materials he likes best: rose, jasmine, orris, oakmoss, civet and ambergris. Roja Elysium Pour Homme and Roja A Goodnight Kiss are among the house bestsellers. In September 2026 Extravaganza Beauty bought the house, and Dove moved into a consulting role.
Roja Diaghilev was first made in 2010 for the Victoria and Albert Museum's exhibition on Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes: a chypre of 33 ingredients with tuberose, jasmine and violet over oakmoss, vetiver and leather. Roja Enigma Pour Homme sets cognac and tobacco against heliotrope, benzoin and vanilla. Roja Oceania stands for the water between the islands of his Isola collection, with bergamot, lime and mandarin over geranium, jasmine, moss, sandalwood and orris.
