Julianne is writer and dramaturge of many years experience with a history of involvement with innovative companies and projects. She is currently writing The Chickabees a screenplay for independent film producer Screen Actors Studio.

In 2005 O'Brien wrote, performed & produced The ArbiTraitor, one women show for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

O'Brien also completed a five year contract lecturing in Screenwriting at Ballarat University, while scripting the large scale community theatre piece ‘Metamorphosis'for the Colac Health Service. She facilitated ‘Up on the hill, Down in the town' a writing program for Sunbury residents with an intellectual disability and teaches Creative Writing for Adults. Julianne has had a series of humorous articles published in The AGE, was Story Editor for Blue Heelers (HSV 7 & Southern Star) and wrote comedy for Backberner (ABC TV Syd) Eat Your Young her play commissioned by the 2000 Adelaide Festival for Arena Theatre toured Taiwan in May 2001 and then an extensive tour of Australian Capital Cities.

O'Brien was head writer on the Arena Theatre multimedia trilogy - ‘Autopsy', ‘Mass ‘& ‘Panacea' which won the 1999 ASSITEJ President's award for ‘Best in the World', presented in Norway. Both Autopsy and her highly acclaimed first play The Women There. have toured Canada at the invitation of major theatre festivals. Lady Muck, her comic one women show was performed at La Mama, Playbox Theatre and on ABC radio, travelling to Los Angeles Theatre & Edinburgh Festival. O'Brien has lectured in writing techniques, professional writing and editing, creative writing, for Swinburne Uni, Gordon Institute, Ballarat and Victoria Uni, Footscray Community Arts Centre.