Gayatri Saraf was born on August 17, 1952 in Bolangir and spent most of her teaching career there. She has published thirteen short story collections in Odia to her credit. For the short story collection Itabhatira Shilpi, she was awarded Central Sahitya Academy award in 2017. For teaching, she has received President`s award in 2004. She was Vice-President of Odisha Sahitya Academy from 2015 to 2018. She lives in Bhubaneswar.