Noriko Ogiwara was born in 1959. Having read C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia at a very early age, she decided to become a fantasy writer.

Her first book, Sorairo Magatama (???? "Sky-colored Jade"; see magatama) won her several awards for children's literature and was translated into English by Cathy Hirano as Dragon Sword and Wind Child; the English version was out-of-print until it was re-released by Viz Media in October of 2007. The two sequels, Hakuchou Iden (???? "swan's strange legend") and Usubeni Tennyo (???? "pink nymph"), have only been published in Japanese. These three books together were called "The Jade Trilogy".

Ogiwara's most recent work is Nishi No Yoki Majo (?????? "Good Witch of the West Astraea Testament"). A western-styled high fantasy series featuring a girl on the quest of finding out the mysteries surrounding the legends of her country and her friends. 8 books (including 3 side stories also penned by her) and 9 manga (it is currently serialized by Haruhiko Momokawa on Comic Blade) of this series have been published in Japanese so far. Recently the first two volumes was translated in English as The Good Witch of the West. The Good Witch of the West is also animated as The Good Witch of the West Astraea Testament, and it is now airing in Japan as of early April 2006.