Olive attended school between the ages of five and fourteen. During this time she failed her "eleven plus" examination, although she loved physical exercises and English composition, and wanted to be an actress and a writer. She lived in Coventry during World War II, and survived Coventry's Blitz. She married Eric Snuggs in 1944 when she was nineteen, and they have five children.
Their eldest daughter eventually moved to Australia, and in 1965 Olive and Eric came out too, on assisted passage. They brought their twin daughters and their son with them, and settled in Salisbury. Olive worked as a Fitness Instructor for SA Keep Fit 1974-1986, working in Salisbury, Glenside Hospital and Barkuma, Elizabeth, providing fitness classes and workshops for the intellectually disabled. She also served SA Keep Fit as their Publicity Officer for two years.She went trekking in Nepal in 1986 at the age of 62 and compiled a book of her travelling experiences. In 1983 she ran the marathon Gawler to Adelaide race.
Olive has been involved in a number of writing activities, and says that "her pen is her best friend". She attended writing workshops in Adelaide at the WEA and TAFE, and ran poetry workshops herself through Keep Fit for the Elderly. She was involved in writing workshops at Glenside Hospital and compiled a collection of members' work in 1986. She was co-coordinator of the Salisbury Writing Group 1990-1992 and a committee member of the Enfield Writers' Club, co-editing anthologies for the group. She has been Host Presenter of the EWC Radio Programme "Imagination" on Community Radio PBA FM Salisbury since 1994. Her poetry has been read on Radio 5UV, her poetry and prose read on Radio PBAFM, a short story read on 5UV and a radio play produced on PBAFM. She has won prizes in several poetry competitions in SA and elsewhere.
