Yeşim Ağaoğlu was born in Istanbul and graduated from Istanbul University's Department of Archeology and Art History, later receiving a master's degree from Istanbul University's Faculty of Communications, Department of Radio-TV-Cinema. She also attended a course on Super-8 film at the New York School of Visual Arts, resulting in the short film Loneliness, Machines And Meditation. Yeşim Ağaoğlu has worked in the field of contemporary art since 1996. She has staged four solo exhibitions in Azerbaijan, Bosnia, Georgia, and Norway. She has participated in several residency programs and contributed to numerous exhibitions and biennials in Turkey and such countries as Germany, Norway, Italy, Bulgaria, Uzbekistan, and Korea.

Yeşim Ağaoğlu has been publishing poems in literary journals since the age of 18. Seven volumes of her poetry have been published in Turkey (two of which have been translated into Azeri and Russian). She used to be a board member of the PEN club's Writers in Exile and Turkish Women Writers. She is a member of the PEN International Writers' Club of Turkey and a board member of BESAM (Creators of Scientific and Literary Works Association). Yeşim Ağaoğlu lives and works in Istanbul.