Rosemary Dobson was born in Sydney on June 18, 1920. She was educated at the Frensham School and the University of Sydney, before beginning work with Angus & Robertson in her early twenties. She began to write poetry in her teens and through her work as an editor formed close friendships with many other Australian poets. She met Alec Bolton in 1950 when he joined Angus & Robertson as an editor, and they married the following year and had three children. They spent five years in London, England in the late 60s, before moving to Canberra in 1971, where Alec Bolton was the first Director of Publications at the National Library of Australia. Alec Bolton established the Brindabella Press in 1972, which deepened the couple's ties with Australian literary production. Dobson remained in Canberra after her husband's death in 1996, and continues to work as a poet.