Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, into a Mormon family her father was C. Thomas Ohmart, a dentist who was first a professional actor, and Armelia Ohmart. She attended East High School in Salt Lake City, Utah, and graduated from Lewis and Clark High School in Spokane, Washington. Carol Ohmart won the Miss Utah 1946 title (A September 27, 1945, newspaper article gives her title as “Miss Utah, 1945”.) at the age of 19. (An Associated Press news story published September 6, 1945, says that Ohmart won the Miss Utah title when she was 17). She then won fourth place in the Miss America pageant. (An Associated Press news story published September 8, 1946, says Ohmart “placed fourth runner-up,” which equates to fifth place.) In 1947, Ohmart became a model for the character “Copper Calhoun” in Milton Caniff’s Steve Canyon comic strip. At age 12, Carol Ohmart was a singer on KFRC in San Francisco, California. She also sang on KSL, KUTA and KDYL in her hometown of Salt Lake City. Additionally, she sang with dance bands, including that of Jan Garber. Ohmart was seen on early television doing commercials, appearing on NBC’s Bonny Maid Versatile Varieties (1949–51), which aired Friday nights at 9 p.m. Ohmart was seen pitching floor wax along with Anne Francis and Eva Marie Saint, with the trio also hosting the show. She also worked on The 20th Century Fox Hour. Ohmart moved to New York in 1955 where she worked as an understudy on Broadway.

Carol Ohmart had steady work in television until the early 1970s, with guest roles in Bat Masterson, Ripcord, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Get Smart, Perry Mason and Barnaby Jones. Dubbed a “female Brando” by the press, Paramount Pictures signed her in 1955 and promoted her as the next Marilyn Monroe. Ohmart had top billing in The Scarlet Hour, a Paramount film made by the distinguished director Michael Curtiz about a married woman who persuades her lover to commit a jewelry robbery. After spending nearly $2 million promoting her, Ohmart was released from her contract. She co-starred with Anthony Quinn in a 1956 crime drama, The Wild Party. After marrying Wayde Preston, she briefly retired from acting, only to return a year later, starring in numerous films and television series. Producer Jack Warner offered her a supporting role in Born Reckless (1958); although she didn’t like the script, she accepted the role out of gratitude. One of her most noted roles was in William Castle’s House on Haunted Hill (1959), playing the murder-plotting wife of Vincent Price. She later starred in Spider Baby; according to director Jack Hill, Ohmart was enthusiastic about the project, asking “Do you think we can win an Academy Award for this?” She was considered for the starring role in Hell’s Bloody Devils (1970) by director Al Adamson. Her last film role was in 1974 with The Spectre of Edgar Allan Poe. Carol Ohmart died in Fort Collins, Colorado on January 1, 2002 of natural causes. She was cremated, and her ashes were scattered over Carter Lake in Loveland, Colorado. Her husband died on February 21, 2005 in Lake City, Florida.