Ree Drummond (born Anne Marie Smith) grew up in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and attended the University of Southern California. After college, she met and married Ladd Drummond, a cattle rancher from Pawhuska, Oklahoma, and moved to his family's ranch.
Ree Drummond launched The Pioneer Woman blog in 2006, initially documenting her life on the ranch, her cooking, and her family. The blog's combination of approachable recipes, personal storytelling, and photography of ranch life resonated strongly with readers, and it grew rapidly into one of the most popular food and lifestyle blogs in the United States.
The Pioneer Woman blog won the Weblog Award for Best Food Blog in 2007 and 2008. Ree Drummond published her first cookbook, The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl, in 2009. It became a New York Times bestseller.
Food Network launched The Pioneer Woman cooking show in 2011, which became one of the network's most popular programs. The show has aired more than 30 seasons and continues to be one of Food Network's top-rated programs.
In 2015, Ree Drummond partnered with Walmart to launch The Pioneer Woman product line, featuring kitchenware, cookware, bakeware, and home decor. The line became one of Walmart's most successful exclusive brand partnerships, with products sold in thousands of Walmart stores and on Walmart.com. The Pioneer Woman product line has expanded to include food products, bedding, and other home goods.
Ree Drummond opened The Mercantile, a retail store and restaurant in downtown Pawhuska, Oklahoma, in 2016. The Mercantile became a major tourist attraction, drawing visitors from across the country to the small Oklahoma town. She subsequently opened a hotel (The Boarding House), a second restaurant (P-Town Pizza), and other businesses in Pawhuska, transforming the town into a destination for Pioneer Woman fans.
Ree Drummond has published more than a dozen cookbooks, many of which have been New York Times bestsellers. She has also published children's books and a memoir.