As the only surviving child, Anna was heir to enormous estates in Karelia and a fortune of millions, all of which she inherited after the death of her father in 1808.

Anna was introduced to Saint Petersburg aristocratic society by her father, but never married.

After the death of her father in 1808, she took control of her land and fortune, and became famed for her piety and work for the Orthodox church.

During Orlova's lifetime, "Photius and his colleagues milked her for twenty-five million roubles, US$ 740 million in today's money and five per cent of the Russian crown's entire annual revenue as of 1833.

"[2] Countess Orlova and her confessor Photius were buried in the Yuriev Monastery, in the Church of the Transfiguration which they had built.