Molly Lamb Bobak was born in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1920, the daughter of Harold Mortimer-Lamb and Alice Mary Price. She began her formal art training in 1938 at the Vancouver School of Art under the tutelage of Jack Shadbolt.

She joined the Canadian Women's Army Corps (CWAC) in 1942 rose to Lieutenant and became the first official female War Artist with the Canadian Army in Europe, 1945-46. She married fellow war artist Bruno Bobak in 1945. They have two children, Alexander (1946) and Anny (1957).

After the war, she and Bruno settled briefly in Ottawa and then returned to Vancouver in 1947 where she worked as an instructor in painting at the Vancouver School of Art. A French Government Scholarship in 1950 permitted her to study in Paris, and for the remainder of the decade she continued her artistic pursuits as well as teaching extensively and doing radio work.

In 1960 she moved to Fredericton, New Brunswick with Bruno who became Artist-in-Residence at the University of New Brunswick Art Centre.

A Canada Council Grant in 1961 allowed her to study in Norway before returning to take up permanent residency in Fredericton in 1962 where she devoted much of her time to teaching art through Extension Programs at UNB, workshops at the Banff School of Art, the Sunbury Shores Arts and Nature Centre, and the Alberta College of Art.