Born in Bucharest, she studied at the Iulia Hasdeu High School in Lugoj.

After moving to Brașov at age 17, she returned to Bucharest, where she graduated in 1956 from the I.L.

[1] Draga Olteanu Matei was awarded the Order of the Star of Romania, Knight rank in May 2002 and the Order of the Crown of Romania, Officer rank in October 2014.

[1] She received a star on the Romanian Walk of Fame in Bucharest on 29 October 2011.

[2] She died in 2020 of gastrointestinal bleeding at the Saint Spiridon Hospital [ro] in Iași[1][3] and was buried with military honors at the Eternitatea Cemetery in Piatra Neamț.