O'Reilly has stated that her family has "a strong German background" and "just a little bit" of Irish ancestry. She worked as a car salesperson at CarMax and was a waitress at Chili's prior to working in the adult film industry.
In 2014, O'Reilly made her directorial debut with Maddy O'Reilly is Slutwoman, which she co-directed alongside MimeFreak. The first film she directed on her own was Maddy O'Reilly's Submission, which won the 2015 XBIZ Award for BDSM Release of the Year.
In August 2015, O'Reilly appeared in an episode of the Lifetime television series Living with the Enemy to defend her career against a self-proclaimed anti-pornography life coach.
O'Reilly states that if she weren't in the adult film industry, she would probably be working with animals. She does volunteer work for the Humane Society, such as fostering dogs in her spare time.


