Anne Marie “Ree” Drummond was born on January 6, 1969, in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. She attended the University of Southern California, where she studied journalism before switching to gerontology. Drummond initially planned to attend law school, but changed plans when she met and married cattle rancher Ladd Drummond. 

Following the marriage, Ree traded city life for a remote working cattle ranch eight miles west of Pawhuska, Oklahoma. In 2006, she began blogging about ranch life, homeschooling, and cooking — originally under the title Confessions of a Pioneer Woman. The blog grew rapidly and became viral, which led to cookbook deals and, later on, television opportunities.  

In 2010, she appeared on Throwdown! with Bobby Flay, where she narrowly defeated Bobby Flay in a Thanksgiving cook-off. Consequently, Food Network offered Drummond her own show, The Pioneer Woman, which premiered in 2011. She has served as the host of the show since then, which is filmed on their Oklahoma ranch. In addition to TV hosting,  Drummond and her husband operate several businesses, including The Mercantile (a restaurant and retail store), The Boarding House (a boutique hotel), P-Town Pizza, and Charlie’s Sweet Shop.