Omi Minami is a Japanese voice actress, essayist, and columnist born on July 13, 1968, in Tokyo, Japan. Her journey to becoming a voice actor began with a childhood dream of performing in Super Sentai action series, which led her to enroll in the Japan Action Club during high school. However, an injury sustained during training, combined with advice from those around her, prompted a shift in focus toward a career that would be less physically demanding. Following this, she became one of the first students at the Katsuta Voice Actor Academy, later also training at the Japan Narration Acting Institute, where her classmates included fellow voice actresses Maya Okamoto and Miki Itou. She made her debut in 1985, voicing the character Andy in the anime The Smurfs.

Throughout her extensive career, Minami has been associated with several voice acting agencies, including Arts Vision, Production Baobab, and Osawa Office. In March 2012, she moved to the agency Pomaranchi, which she co-founded with fellow voice actor Yūji Ueda. Beyond performance, she has contributed to the industry as an educator, becoming the director of a voice actor training school called Studio Nyokki in 2014. She is also a published essayist and columnist, having written about her life and experiences, including a series for the magazine Manga Life MOMO.

Minami is widely recognized for her distinctive, high-register voice, which has allowed her to portray a broad spectrum of characters, particularly young boys, gentle or innocent girls, and small creatures. One of her most iconic and career-defining roles is that of Ruri Hoshino, the emotionless young crew member in the 1996 series Martian Successor Nadesico. This performance showcased her ability to convey a character's complex nature with a nuanced and understated delivery. Another highly significant and long-running role is Shimajirō Shimano, the protagonist tiger cub in the educational children's series Shima Shima Tora no Shimajirō, a role she has voiced consistently since 1993 across numerous television series, films, and other media. Her filmography also includes other notable characters such as Hyatt in Excel Saga, Majic Lin in Sorcerous Stabber Orphen, Takuya Harashima in The Brave of Gold Goldran, the android Tama in Gintama, and Euphemia li Britannia in Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion. She has also lent her voice to numerous video game characters, including Meredy in Tales of Eternia and Xiaomu in the Namco x Capcom series of crossover games.

Over the course of her career, Minami has developed recurring professional relationships. Her most prominent partnership is with Yūji Ueda, with whom she co-founded their agency and has frequently co-starred in series such as Ojarumaru, where she voices the imp Akane and he voices another imp, Kisuke. She also has a long history of collaboration with director and screenwriter Hiroyuki Yamaga and has worked alongside voice actors like Ai Orikasa and Akiko Yajima.

Minami's talent has been recognized by the industry and fans alike. She achieved high rankings in Animage's prestigious Anime Grand Prix polls for favorite voice actress, placing second in 1999 and third in 2000. Her body of work, spanning over three decades, has left a significant mark on both mainstream anime and long-running children's programming, making her a familiar and beloved voice to multiple generations of viewers in Japan.