Lawrence Chu was born in 1965 in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia into a family of a successful businessman (his father migrated from China and his mother was a teacher).  He earned his first degree of Business Administration at University of Ottawa, Canada at the age of 19.  Thirteen years later in 1997, he took up a corresponding MBA program from Henley Management College, and graduated in 2000.  Together with his wife Cannye Chung, he continued his DBA program from University of South Australia, and they both graduated in April 2004.

Dr. Lawrence Chu is the fourth sibling of Chu family of seven.  His father, Datuk Chu Kok Keng, migrated from the province of Fujian, China to Singapore 1948. He was later invited by his wealthy cousin brother to Kota Kinabalu to start a grocery business.  In 1950, he started one of the very first bookstore in town, Ming Kiang Book Store. Dr. Lawrence Chu grew up in a very unique environment.  At the age of 6, he started to work as a shop assistant in the bookstore.  With the encouragement of his father, he took every opportunity to read the books displayed in the shop.  At the age of 10, his father started to bring him overseas for business travelling.  These unique experiences had broadened his worldviews in the competitive world of business.

Dr. Lawrence Chu is a business practitioner as well as an academician.  The family businesses spans from civil construction in road and water, education and training, research in e-Commerce and human development, hospitality (hotel and resorts), retailing, property  development, paper manufacturing, media and IT.  His academic interest includes research in competitive advantage of a firm, and resource-based approach of e-Commerce competitive advantage.  His favorite subjects also include neurology, neurobiology, psychiatry and psychology.