After attending elementary and high schools in Kenya, she benefited from a scholarship by the government of Russia, to attend Samara State Aerospace University, in Samara, Russia, where she studied Aerospace engineering, graduating with a Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) degree in 2009.
[1][2] In 2014, Orwaru was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, for which she had to undergo chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
In June 2014, she was hired as an aircraft maintenance technician at Kenya Airways, working in that capacity for six months until December 2014.
[1][2] In October 2017, Emily Orwaru was named among the "Top 40 Under 40 Women in Kenya 2017" by Business Daily Africa, an English-language business daily newspaper, published by the Nation Media Group.
She is involved in a community-based economic development group in Nyamira, her home village.