Spencer Bower was born in St Neots, Huntingdonshire, England on 13 April 1905, along with her twin brother, Marmaduke.

[1] Her mother, Rosa Dixon, was an artist and her father, Anthony Spencer Bower, was a civil engineer.

[3] In England, Spencer Bower was introduced to the techniques of watercolour painting by her school art teacher.

[1] Spencer Bower attended the art school for eight years in total, alongside artists such as Rita Angus and Rata Lovell-Smith, leaving at the age of 24.

[5] A biography, Olivia Spencer Bower: Making her own discoveries, by art historian Julie King, was published by Canterbury University Press in 2015.