[1] Olivia Chaney was born in Florence, Italy, and grew up in Oxford, England, studying composition, piano and voice.

[3] At 14, Chaney won a joint-first piano and voice scholarship to Chetham's School of Music in Manchester, which was focused on the classical repertoire.

[10] Chaney has performed with the Balearic Folk Orchestra, for whom she sang, arranged and played harmonium and piano on the group's Amy Winehouse cover, "He Can Only Hold Her", for a Q Magazine tribute.

[13] This release, which The Guardian hailed as "an enchanting and stately creation", was noted in a number of 'Best of 2015' lists[14] (including Uncut, Mojo and PopMatters).

The album, which was produced by Thomas Bartlett, includes original songs that Chaney wrote in her family cottage in the hills of the North York Moors, as well as her performance of "Long Time Gone," written by Frank Harford and Tex Ritter and first recorded by The Everly Brothers, and Henry Purcell's "O Solitude.

[21] On 30 September 2019, Chaney was invited to play at Richard Thompson's 70th Birthday Celebration at the Royal Albert Hall in London.