Harvinder Singh Marwa was born in Kajiado, Kenya.
His great-parents had moved to East Africa in 1896 from Lahore, Punjab when the Kenya - Uganda Railway started. His father, Parminder Singh Marwa, who worked for East African Railways, was a very good tennis and hockey player and played for in Tanganyika and Kenya for the Railway teams.
His primary education was at seven different Schools in Tanganyika and Kenya because of his father's frequent transfers as he worked for the Railways.
His secondary school education was at Eastleigh Secondary School in Nairobi from 1959 to 1961. He played Hockey and Football for the school teams. He played for the Railway Wanders Team in the Division 1 hockey league in Nairobi whilst still at School.
He played for Sir Ali Muslim Club for two seasons - 1960 and 1961.
He also played hockey for Judicial Department team and Survey of Kenya teams.
He moved to Nakuru in 1962 and played for the Civil Service Hockey team and the Railway Club in Nakuru. He also played for Kisumu X1 in 1962 and 1963.
He co-founded Nakuru Rangers Hockey Club in 1964 which he captained. He also represented and captained Rift Valley team.
He captained Nakuru X1 against Pakistan on 31 August 1965. His performance for Nakuru Rangers in the Kishan Singh Cup held in Nakuru in 1965, where all the leading Clubs of Kenya participated, brought him to the attention of Kenya selectors. He was invited for Kenya trials in 1965.
He was invited to play for Sikh Union Club Nairobi in 1966. He played for the Club until 1973, travelling from Nakuru for the matches. The Club won the M R D'Souza Gold Cup on five occasions whilst he was in the team.
He was selected for Kenya's tour of Zambia in September 1966.
He earned his first international cap for Kenya when he was selected to play against Pakistan in Nairobi on 6 November 1966 in the first test match.
In the sixth test match against Pakistan, on 20 November 1966, Kenya team included three Marwa bothers, Harvinder and his younger brothers, Tejinder and Amarjeet with Tejinder scoring Kenya's goal in the 1 - 1 drawn match.
He represented Kenya at the East African championships from in December 1966 and from that time became a regular Kenya player.
He was selected for Kenya at the Pre-Olympic Tournament in Lahore, Pakistan in January 1968 and the test series against India in Kenya before the Mexico Olympics.
He represented Kenya at the Mexico 1968 Olympic Games. He played as centre half for all except the first two matches.
He represented Kenya at the 8 Nations Tournament in Lahore, Pakistan in March 1969 and Kenya's tour of India.
He represented Kenya during Pakistan tour of Kenya in August 1970.
He represented Kenya at the 1st World Cup in Barcelona in 1971 where Kenya finished fourth, losing 1 - 2 against India after extra time in the bronze medal match.
He represented Kenya at the Munich 1972 Olympic Games where he was the vice captain of the team. He captained the team in the match against Mexico at the Olympic Games on 4 September 1972 which Kenya won 2 - 1.
He represented Kenya in the 4 test Series against Wales in Kenya in July 1973.
He was selected in Kenya's squad of 16 for the 2nd World Cup in Amsterdam in 1973. The squad was announced on 29 July 1973. He played in the East African Championships held in Dar-es-Salaam from 8 - 10 August, scoring a goal in the match against Zambia in the first match, In the second match, the following day, against Uganda he suffered an ankle injury. However, he still played the last match, against Tanzania, on 10th August, with the foot injury. Kenya won the Championships. Four days later, the team departed for the World Cup in Amsterdam. He travelled with the team up to London via Cairo. His injury did not heal which forced him to stay in London for further treatment. He thus missed playing at the 2nd World Cup in Amsterdam. The Kenya team did not replace him in the squad.
He retired from international hockey after the 2nd World Cup and took up coaching and promoting hockey in the Rift Valley.
The Marwa family created a unique record in Kenya hockey. Four brothers represented Kenya at international hockey. In addition to Harvinder, Amarjeet represented Kenya at two Olympic Games - Mexico 1968 and Munich 1972. And Amarjeet also represented Kenya at two World Cups - 1st World Cup in Barcelona in 1971 and 2nd World Cup in Amsterdam in 1973. Tejinder represented Kenya against Pakistan in Nairobi on 20 November 1966. Harvinder, Tejinder and Amarjeet played in that match against Pakistan. This is the first time three brothers have played in the same team in an international match for Kenya. The youngest brother, Satpal represented Kenya in 1975. Satpal and Amarjeet were selected to represent Kenya at the Montreal 1976 Olympic Games. The Kenya Olympic team was in the Olympic Village in Montreal when Kenya, together with other African countries, pulled out of the Games at the last minute for political reasons.
In 1997 he emigrated to the UK and now resides in London.