George O'Brien was born in Ireland and arrived in New Zealand via Australia. He settled in Dunedin where worked as a surveyor and architect. He also exhibited watercolour landscapes, taught drawing and painting, and carried out a number of commissions for architectural perspectives.

O'Brien is best known for his town and landscapes. In some ways his commissioned architectural perspectives were related to these scenes, by showing the land 'idyllically settled by man'. The perspectives 'were more that just tools or advertisements' for the architects. They also expressed O'Brien's 'ideal of a New Zealand made beautiful by the efforts of men.'