Ottilie Reimers was born in Eilbek, a quarter of the German city of Hamburg, on 30 January 1913. After attending business school, she completed a commercial apprenticeship before working as a secretary at a publishing house, which was later acquired by the Hamburger Tageblatt. She was then recruited as the chief secretary to assist in establishing the newspaper Die WELT, founded in 1946.
Later in her career, she started her own business, operating two Toto-Lotto tobacco and magazine shops, where she met her future husband. He passed away in 1982 during a train journey, after which she relocated to Bad Bevensen. In 2019, at the age of 106, she moved to Großhansdorf.
On 16 July 2022, following the passing of 113-year-old Josefine Ollmann, she became the oldest (known) living person in the state of Schleswig-Holstein.
Her age has not been validated.