Guliyeva (née Ganizade) was born in Moscow: her father taught at Timiryazev Institute of Agriculture in Moscow, and her mother was an artist (Guliyeva would later also become an amateur artist). In 1936 the family moved to Baku. Having finished high school in the city, Guliyeva returned to Moscow to study architecture at Moscow Institute of Architecture. Upon graduating, she worked at AzerDovlatLayiha, where she eventually headed a design workshop. She later moved to BakiDovlatLayiha.

Guliyeva’s first works were residential buildings. Subsequently, she came to specialize in sports facilities: these projects include the Athletic Manege (now Baku Olympic Center), 1973, and velodrome, both in Baku. Guliyeva also worked on library buildings, including the building of the Big Soviet Encyclopedia (currently Azerbaijan National Encyclopedia) publishing house in the old center of Baku (1967; with female construction engineer N. Vasilyeva).

Guliyeva also taught at Azerbaijan Institute of Engineering and Construction.

Guliyeva was married twice (her first husband was prominent Baku architect Yusef Kadymov) and had two children.