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Lucille Edith Ogle was born in Cleveland, Ohio on September 20, 1904, daughter of John Brown and Maud (Johnston) Ogle. She earned a B.Ed. degree at Western Reserve University in 1936, and an M.A. in marketing at New York University in 1937. She was editor-in-chief of Harter Publishing Company in Cleveland from 1927-1936. In 1936 she joined Artists and Writers Guild (later Artists and Writers Press) in New York City, which specialized in book design and production for other publishers.

While with Artists and Writers Guild, Ogle joined with Georges Duplaix, a Guild editor, in designing a new line of mass-market children's books to be printed in full color yet sell for twenty-five cents each. The idea was well received by Albert Leventhal, vice president of Simon and Schuster; he and Leon Shimpkin, another Simon and Schuster executive, worked with Ogle and Duplaix to bring out an initial printing of 600,000 copies of twelve original Little Golden Books in the fall of 1942. The heavily promoted line, sold primarily through outlets such as drug stores and grocery stores, was an immediate success. One of the original titles, The Poky Little Puppy, by Janette Sebring Lowrey and illustrated by Gustav Tenggren, has sold over six million copies and is still print.

In 1947 Lucille Ogle became a vice president of Artists and Writers Press, assuming responsibility for a number of projects, particularly the Little Golden Books. The Golden line was transferred in 1957 to Western Printing and Lithography Company (later Western Publishing Company), Simon and Schuster's printer. Western created a subsidiary, Golden Press, which was responsible for publication of the Little Golden Books and spin-off lines such as Merrigold, as well as the famous Golden Guides and many other books for both children and adults. Design and production remained the responsibility of Artists and Writers Press, also a Western subsidiary. Lucille Ogle became a vice president of Golden Press in 1965. She also served as vice president and director of Story Parade magazine from 1941 to 1955, and a a director of Odyssey Press, another Western subsidiary.

Ogle served on the Board of Directors of the American Institute of Graphic Arts from 1956 to 1962 and on the Board of the League School for Seriously Disturbed Children beginning in 1964. She was active in the National Education Association, the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, the International Union of Conservation Nations, the Child Study Association of America, the International Reading Association, the American Craftsmen's Council, and the Horticultural Society of New York. A contributor to activities pages in publications such as Disney's Mickey Mouse magazine in the 1930's, Ogle wrote or co-authored ten books: Read It and Do It (1934); Little Boy Snow (1935); On Top of the World (1937); Five Times One (1938); Rolling Along through the Centuries with Marie Gilchrist (1936); A B See with Tina Thoburn (1972); Beginner's Dictionary with Tina Thoburn (1976); I Hear with Tina Thoburn (1971); and I Spy with Tina Thoburn (1970).

Lucille Ogle retired from thirty-two years with Western Publishing Company in 1969. To honor her long service and achievements Western, in 1969, announced the establishment of two Lucille Ogle Literary Awards to be make each year through the Publications Department of the Bank Street College of Education. Reflecting Ogle's lifelong interest in encouraging new talent, each literary award is given for the best original manuscript submitted by a new author in one of two categories of children's literature. She also was presented at this time with the Mousecar Award from Walt Disney Productions for her significant contributions to Disney publishing through Western Publising Company.

Ogle remained active after retirement as a free-lance consultant in book production and as a volunteer and supporter of educational and environmental associations until her death in 1989.