[1] Born Daria Eckhardt on April 26, 1971, in Tipton, Iowa, and raised in Wyoming[2] and Montana,[3] Eliuk is a graduate with a degree in theatre from Portland's Reed College.
[4] She held jobs as a lifeguard at the Multnomah Athletic Club and as a teacher's aide at Wilson High School before she switched to a career in radio and began using "O Neill" as a stage name.
In November 2003, she joined The Afternoon Buzz With Dr. Doug, Daria and Skippy, a radio program at KRSK in Portland.
The daily segment mixed information about Portland area events and attractions with reminiscences from her youth and college days in addition to trivia and historical anecdotes.
[8] She launched the podcast Radio Free Daria in October 2018 and continues to write fiction and appear at Portland area events.
[4] She has also modeled for Willamette Week and hosted the paper's annual political event Candidates Gone Wild in 2004 along with activist Steve Novick and others.