[1] Cook graduated in 1999 with a Bachelor of Design in jewellery from Unitec Auckland where among other tutors she studied with Pauline Bern.
[3][4] She says 'My work references familiar historical jewellery motifs, like the bow, skull, and cameo silhouette, which balance the personal nature of my subject matter'.
[5]: 88 [6] She has several series of rings, brooches, earrings and necklaces that play with the ideas of cameos, mourning jewellery, and identity.
[5]: 88 Another work, OC v QEII (2006) is a reversible red and white brooch hung from a large bow, with Cook's and Queen Elizabeth II's profiles on either side.
[7][8] Her solo exhibition Dynasty: Works by Octavia Cook was held at The Dowse Art Museum in 2012.