Eva Atle Bjarnestam is a librarian, and her previous career includes a spell as an antiques dealer. This stimulated an interest in design, which led to her writing De formade 1990-talet (They designed the 20th century, 2005), a reference book about the people who shaped the 20th century in areas such as handicrafts, fashion, and industrial design. Eva Atle Bjarnestam lives in the Vastmanland province of central Sweden, in a large doer-upper.