Robin Ophe­lia Quiv­ers was born August 8, 1952, in Bal­ti­more. Her father, Charles Quiv­ers, Sr., was a steel­worker at Beth­le­hem Steel, and her mother, Louise was a home­maker and house­keeper. She has an older brother, Charles Quiv­ers Jr.

Quiv­ers has accused her father of sex­u­ally abus­ing her and other chil­dren in the neighborhood.

Quiv­ers enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and was trained as a nurse, ris­ing to the rank of Cap­tain. She was hon­or­ably dis­charged in 1980 after seven years of ser­vice. After retire­ment, Quiv­ers decided to pur­sue a career in radio and attended the Broad­cast­ing Insti­tute of Mary­land. In 1981 Quiv­ers joined Howard Stern at DC 101 in Wash­ing­ton and has been his side­kick ever since.