Oganesian's skill were noticed by the coaches of the Soviet Union national football team, which he started playing for in 1979, when the team was managed by Konstantin Beskov. The following year, as part of the Soviet Union Olympic football team, the USSR squad won bronze at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. Oganesian scored twice at the Olympics. His first goal was in a dominant 4-0 victory over Venezuela in the group stage. The Soviet team advanced to the semifinals, where they were defeated 0-1 by East Germany. Oganesian did not play because of a concussion received in the quarterfinals. In the following bronze medal match against Yugoslavia, Oganesian came off the bench and scored his second goal and the winning goal at the 67th minute. Sergey Andreyev also scored a goal, leaving the final score 2-0 for the Soviet Union.