As the daughter of the Golden Age painter Constantin Hansen (1804–1880), Elise Konstantin-Hansen was born into an artistic household, where she received instruction from her father at an early age. She later supplemented this training with a period as a student of the genre painter Christen Dalsgaard (1824–1907) and the Skagen painter Lauritz Tuxen (1853–1927). In 1885–86, she studied in Paris under Louis Hector Leroux (1829–1900) and in 1888–1889 at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts’ School for Women.

In her artistic practice, she immersed herself in arts and crafts, a field she pursued throughout her life. Both in this area and in landscape painting, she had a particular focus on bird motifs and wildlife.

She received several awards, including the Neuhausen Prize in 1885, multiple grants from the Academy of Fine Arts, and the Sødring Grant from 1916 to 1946.

Elise Konstantin-Hansen exhibited extensively—she made her debut at Charlottenborg in 1882 and exhibited there regularly until 1892. Additionally, she participated in the Nordic Industrial Exhibition, as well as international exhibitions in Paris, Chicago, and Munich. In 1917, she held a solo exhibition at Dansk Kunsthandel.

Today, 51 of her works are housed in seven Danish museums.