Tanimowo Ogunlesi was born on 1 December 1908, she attended Kudeti Girls School Ibadan, Oyo State and attended United Missionary College (UMC) for her teachers training qualifications.

Tanimowo Ogunlesi started teaching in Lagos at CMS Girls’ Seminary School in 1934. she was married to her husband J.S.

J.S Ogunlesi, her husband received a scholarship to study in London which gave her opportunities for her to relocate to London too, and then continued her education at the nursery school in St. Andrew’s University in Scotland, in 1946.

She became the first president of the National Council of Women's Societies in 1959.

[4] She dealt largely on the rights of women to vote and to have access to educational facilities but like most women nationalists of the era, she never really questioned the male dominance of the Nigerian household.