Born in Kawasaki, Ogawa studied at the Tokyo College of Music (1977–80) and the Juilliard School in New York (1981–5), and later with Benjamin Kaplan.
[1] Ogawa is noted for recording the piano concertos of Alexander Tcherepnin with conductor Lan Shui and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.
Her Debussy discs have won the Editor's Choice of Gramophone Magazine, as well as Takemitsu recording.
[11] Ogawa has been involved in fundraising for relief and rebuilding efforts following the March 2011 Japanese earthquake.
[12] She calls this concert series "Jamie's concerts", after the severely autistic son of two musician friends with whom she lived in London and whom she supported as they learned to diagnose and then cope with the disorder, saying: "I am not a doctor, I’m not a nurse, I’m not a teacher for someone with special needs, but I am a musician.