Dr. Omanakutty comes from a family of musicians. Her introduction to music came through her father, late Sri Malabar Gopalan Nair, a musician of yesteryears, and her mother, Smt Kamalakshi Amma. She further honed her music skills under stalwarts like Dr Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, GNB and Prof Mavelikkara Prabhakara Varma.

Dr Omanakutty is also a noted for her research and publications in the field of music. On the same note, her research on Kathakali music led to her doctorate in this field. She currently serves as professor and Head of the Department of Music in the University of Kerala. She also chairs Sangeetha Bharathi, a private organization promoting young talents in music.

Music runs in Dr Omanakutty's family. Her older brother, MG Ramachandran is a reknowed music director in Malayalam cine industry circles and her younger brother, MG Sreekumar is a cine classical/semi-classical playback singer. She has also some very talented disciples like B Arundhati, cine playback singer KS Chitra, and Reshmi among others.