Career
According to his descendant, Bruno Bušić, he was Croat, evident from the poem Louisiana trnka urekla Hrvata. He was born in Donji Vinjani around 1745. In the beginning, he was in good relation with Orthodox people, and his first harambaša was Sočivica, an Orthodox.
As a hajduk, he fought against the Ottoman Empire, traveling along Dalmatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
According to contemporary annals, he persecuted more Orthodox (Serbs) than Turks, because he "couldn"t listen or look at them, so he killed many of them". He was killed on April 1, 1783, by a man named Krešić, on Ilijino polje ("Ilija"s Field") somewhere between Stolac and Popovo Polje.
In 1977, Croatian dissident and Bušić clan member Bruno Bušić wrote a book Ivan Bušić-Roša, Hajdučki Harambaša, detailing the life and legend of Ivan Bušić-Roša. Today, there are many traditional folk-songs and gusle poems dedicated to Roša.