The late-night host’s partner is a talented artist in her own right.

It seems like Conan O’Brien has been hosting things for a million years. Since 1993, O’Brien has been one of the kings of late-night talk shows, starting with Late Night with Conan O’Brien, then The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, and finally, Conan. Now, O’Brien is hosting the 2025 Oscars for the very first time—something most critics and movie fans are looking forward to. As funny and confident Oscars hosts go, O’Brien is a popular choice, and the 97th Annual Academy Awards will benefit from his experience handling unwieldy events.

As the old adage goes, behind many great men are powerful women, and when it comes to O’Brien, that cliché is 100 percent true. Here’s what to know about Liza Powel O’Brien, Conan O’Brien’s wife.

How did Liza and Conan O’Brien Meet?

LOS ANGELES – AUGUST 27: Host Conan O’Brien and his wife Liza Powel attends the Governor’s Ball after the 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium on August 27, 2006 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Vince Bucci/Getty Images)

Vince Bucci/Getty Images

Born Elizabeth Ann Powel in 1970, the couple first met in the year 2000 when she appeared in a pre-taped sketch for Late Night with Conan O’Brien. At the time, Powell was working for an advertising agency. For O’Brien, it was apparently love and first sight, which resulted in the pair dating for almost two years. “Yes, you should have children. Your children should be my children,” O’Brien later recalled thinking at the time they met.

The pair were married in 2002 in Seattle, which is Powell’s hometown.

Liza and Conan O’Brien’s Marriage at a Glance

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 15: (L-R) Liza Powel O’Brien and Conan O’Brien attend the HBO & Max Post-Emmy Reception at San Vicente Bungalows on September 15, 2024 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Rodin Eckenroth/WireImage)

Rodin Eckenroth/WireImage

The O’Briens have been married for 23 years and have two children. Their daughter, Neve, was born in 2003. Their son, Beckett, was born in 2005.

Powel O’Brien claims that she has rewatched the pivotal episode of her husband’s show where they met many times. But noted that Conan himself won’t revisit it. “He wants to remember it instead. He says he prefers his memory to whatever the truth is,” she said in 2022 on the podcast Inside Conan.

Liza Powel O’Brien’s Career

LOS ANGELES, CA – APRIL 16: Liza Powel O’Brien is seen on April 16, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by gotpap/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)

Getty/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

Although Powel was working as a copywriter when she and Conan O’Brien met, her primary writing output since then has been as a playwright.

She has nine completed plays, six of which are full-length, according to her website. Recently, The Black List and Theatrical Rights Worldwide selected her play APOSTROPHE to be included in the TRW 2024/2025 publishing catalog.

In addition to playwriting, Powel is the writer and narrator for Significant Others, a historical podcast that explores “folks just beyond the spotlight of history,” according to the podcast’s official description.

Powel seeks to tell the stories of “difficult and little-known individuals who altered the destiny of their better-known partner, child, sibling, or friend, and impacted the world they left behind.”

As the spouse of someone extremely famous, Powel O’Brien clearly knows something about impacting history, both now, and far into the future.