Olivia Guly was born in Hampshire. She attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Woldingham, where at the age of 16 she wrote her first publication in The BMJ - a personal look at the observations of fellow travelers who were hiding anorexia nervosa. She qualified from St Mary’s in 1981. She worked as a house officer in Windsor and Ascot, then as lead house officer in Accident and Emergency in Taunton. She trained in psychiatry in Bristol and West Yorkshire, specializing in forensic psychiatry, where her research focused on child homicide. In 1991 she was appointed as a consultant to the Langdale Unit, the first consultant forensic psychiatrist in Lancashire and South Cumbria. She attended prison sessions where she met her husband, Phil.