She was born in Tana Municipality in Finnmark county in the far north of Norway.

With the publication of the novel Hakk (Cut) in 1994, Ørstavik embarked her writing career.

In 2014 Peirene Press published the first ever English translation of one of her novels - The Blue Room - as part of their Coming of Age series.

[4] In 2018 Archipelago Books published Kjærlighet (1997) as Love, translated by Martin Aiken.

Martin Aiken also translated Ørstavik's 2004 novel Presten, which was subsequently published by Archipelago Books in 2021 as The Pastor.