Elizabeth Ockwell is a painter, etcher, and maker of drawings. She was born in Bozeman, Montana and grew up in Seattle, Washington. Receiving her BA degree from the University of Washington in 1967, Ockwell continued her studies at the Kölnerwerkschulen in Cologne, Germany, the Hochschule für bildende Künste in Hamburg, and finally received an MFA in painting from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

Among awards she has received are Illinois Arts Council Project Completion Grants, and Faculty Enrichment Grants from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Ockwell taught Anatomy, Watercolor, and Figure Drawing at the School of the Art Institute for 32 years.

Her work is included in the collections of the Illinois State Museum, the Block Museum at Northwestern University, and Chase Bank. Solo exhibitions include Architech Gallery and Roger Ramsay Gallery in Chicago, Columbia College Chicago Center for Book and Paper Arts, and Gallerie Matthias in Cologne, Germany. Her work has been included in group shows at the National Museum for Women in the Arts, the Hamburg Kunsthaus, Printworks Gallery, Chicago, and the Museo della Carta in Fabriano, Italy.