Lilian Hansar was born on 6 September 1949 in Kuressaare – the only town on the largest Estonian island of Saaremaa. She graduated in architecture in 1975 from the Estonian Art Institute, which she had attended since 1969. She then became the head of the Department of Monument Protection and Preservation of the KRPI (National Monument Office) after a 4-year employment as an architect. Through her position she rose to become the government architect of the Saare County Government. Shortly after Estonian independence, she became the city architect of Kuressaare in 1994.

In 1998, she expanded her qualifications in the direction of restoration by completing her Master’s degree in Conservation/Restoration at her former university. Hansar became the Saare District Chief Inspector for the National Heritage Board from 2003 to 2007, and at the same time began working at the Academy of Arts. Since 2005 she has been an associate professor in the Faculty of Arts and Culture.

Hansar’s work was honoured with the Alar Kotli Prize in 1988. She later received further recognition: the annual prize of the Estonian Cultural Foundation in 2005 and the Order of the White Star of the Fourth Class in 2006.