Anna-Liisa Fazer was born on 28th May 1943 in Helsinki. Her father was a colonel in the Finnish army, and her mother Lisa was the daughter of Rudolf Walden, Finland's Minister of Defence during World War II, and one of the key politicians to secure Finland's independence from Russia. Anna-Liisa is married to Fredrik Fazer, Master of Political Sciences and a co-owner of Finland's famous Fazer chocolate industry. Anna-Liisa has two children, Kasper (1974), a musician and teacher and Jessica (1977) an actress, with her second husband Lasse Mårtenson, Finland's renowned composer.

Anna-Liisa was educated in Ecole Elementaire Francaise and continued her studies in the Swedish School of Economics in Helsinki. Gifted in languages, she has been working as a translator since 1986. Using Finnish, Swedish, English and French as her tools, her work ranges from feature films and documentaries to legal documents, articles, histories, as well as song lyrics and poetry. Running her own business, she is a freelancer and works for several companies, yet a large part of her work comes from YLE, the Finnish Broadcasting Company, as well as MTV3, one of Finland's commercial channels.

An avid supporter of various charities, Anna-Liisa has worked for the Amnesty International in 1980s, offering her services as a translator. During the 1970s and 1980s she was part of Finnish department of the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees) which helped in creating a bridge between cultures. Nature is also close to Anna-Liisa's heart. She has spent over twenty summers in the Finnish archipelago, participating in the quest to preserve the Baltic Sea, the pride of the Scandinavian countries, and to protect it from waste and pollution.