Anne Maria Nicholson grew up in New Zealand. Her journalistic career began with the Waikato Times. Before coming to Australia, she worked in London for the TV news agency Visnews. In Australia she worked for Channel 7, SBS-TV, The Australian Bicentennial Authority and The Australia Council and later for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Nicholson has been producer, reporter and presenter on programmes such as Lateline and Foreign Correspondent. She has also been the ABC's national arts reporter and has written extensively for the Sydney Morning Herald and the Australian.