Emily Jordan Osment was born on March 10, 1992 in Los Angeles, California to actor Michael Eugene Osment and Theresa Osment née Seifert a teacher. Emily has never been a stranger to the world of entertainment and acting. Her father, Eugene Osment, is an actor of various films, and her older brother is famous Academy Award-nominated actor Haley Joel Osment.

Osment's foray into the entertainment industry began in 1998, when she was cast in a commercial for the mega flower delivery company, FTD. From there, she went on to feature in many commercials, after which, she made her acting debut in the 1999 film The Secret Life of Girls, featuring Eugene Levy and Linda Hamilton. The same year she co-starred alongside Glenn Close in the Hallmark Classic telefilm, Sarah, Plain and Tall: Winter's End, a role that would lead to a nomination for a "Young Artists Award". Since then, she has gone on to do a number of roles, including Gerti Giggles in the Spy Kids trilogy. She also made appearances on television shows such as Touched by an Angel, Friends, and 3rd Rock From the Sun. She is currently working on the Disney Channel series, Hannah Montana, playing the role of Lilly Truscott. The series premiere scored record ratings for Disney Channel with a viewership of 5.4 million viewers, a response "beyond our wildest expectations," according to the president of Disney Channel Entertainment. Osment is close friends with fellow Hannah Montana stars Miley Cyrus and Mitchel Musso,who have been romantically linked.

Osment also had a voice over role in a movie called Holidaze: The Christmas That Almost Didn't Happen, which also featured the voices of fellow Disney Channel stars, Brenda Song and Dylan and Cole Sprouse.

In 2006, Osment was invited to participate in the first Disney Channel Games and was a member of the Green Team. In 2007, she was a member of a new team that year, the yellow team. She also starred as a goth in RL Stine's: The Haunting Hour Volume One: Don't Think About It (co-starring with Hannah Montana's co-star Cody Linley). It has been released on DVD.