Barbara Rogan was born in New York City and raised on Long Island. Restless in college, she took a year off to travel through Israel and Europe. After graduating from St. John's College in Santa Fe, she headed back to New York for a job with Fawcett Books. Six months later, restless still, she moved to Israel, studied Hebrew, worked as a horse wrangler in the Galilee, a park ranger in Ein Gedi, and an editor in Tel Aviv. Two years after moving to Israel, she launched the Barbara Rogan Literary Agency, which represented American and European publishers and agents for the sale of Hebrew rights.