A journalist based in Melbourne, Kate Cole-Adams is also the author of the novel Walking to the Moon, published by Text Publishing. In 2017, she released an analysis of the history of anaesthesia, Anaesthesia: The Gift of Oblivion and the Mystery of Consciousness, which won the 2017 Nib Award, and was shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Literary Award (Non-fiction), longlisted for the 2018 Stella Prize, the ABIA General Non-fiction Book of the Year Award, the Australian Book Design Awards (General Non-Fiction), and the CHASS Australian Book Award.
Kate Cole-Adams is the daughter of Peter Cole-Adams.