Nikoline Anette Harbitz (baptised Nicoline) was born on 27 November 1841 in Melhus Municipality to Nils Nilssøn Dahl (1806–1854), a parish priest and Christopha Kirstine Rønneberg.
She grew up on the chapel farm in Melhus, where her father was a parish priest, before moving to Eid Municipality in Nordfjord for a few years.
[1] When most of Harbitz's children had grown up, she decided to spend her time writing after the family had settled in Mandal Municipality.
[1][2][3] Immediately after she had finished working on her third book, Harbitz started writing her fourth, Kassererens Hjem when she died in Mandal on 11 September 1898.
In 1982, Mogens Haaland wrote a biography of her life titled Nikoline Harbitz, 1841-1898 : familiebakgrunn, liv og forfatterskap.