Eleanor Evans Fraser was born in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. She entered Mount Allison University in the fall of 1939, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1943. While in attendance, Fraser took an active part in campus life. She served as vice-president of her class for three years, was a member of the women's council and the dance committee, earned a Literary "A" in her freshman year and an Argosy "A" after two years on the news staff, worked as assistant co-ed editor of the Allisonian yearbook in 1941-1942, and in her final year became the first woman to serve as editor of the yearbook.
Fraser married George Allan O'Brien on 8 January 1949 and the couple had two children. She died on 29 September 2011 in New Glasgow.