Raised on Oregon's Warm Springs Reservation, Pat Courtney Gold earned a degree in mathematics at Whitman College and pursued a career in computer science before turning to basket making.

Gold has described herself as a basket holding information about her Wasco community's artistic traditions. Her work has led her to explore both the aesthetic and material aspects of basketry.

Inspired by using local plant materials in her basketmaking, she has also become an outspoken advocate for the preservation of natural plant habitats. Pat Courtney Gold has lectured and exhibited her work and taught master classes across the United States and overseas.