Lavinia Greenlaw was born in London into a medical and scientific family, and is one of two sisters and two brothers.
When she was aged 11 the family moved from London to an Essex village, where they lived for seven years.
This period Greenlaw has described as "an interim time" with "memories of time being arrested, nothing much happening."

Greenlaw went on to read modern arts at Kingston Polytechnic.
She then studied at the London College of Printing and gained an MA in art history from the Courtauld Institute.
She was employed as an editor at Imperial College of Science and Technology (1985–1986) and with the publishers Allison and Busby (1986–1987),  and subsequently with Earthscan (1988–90).
She also worked as an arts administrator for Southbank Centre (1990–1991) and the London Arts Board (1991–1994).

Greenlaw's career as a freelance artist, critic and broadcaster began in 1994.
She became the first artist-in-residence at the Science Museum (1994–1995), and has since held residences at the Royal Festival Hall, at a London solicitors' firm (1997–1998), and at the Royal Society of Medicine (2004).
In 2013 she won an Engagement Fellowship from the Wellcome Trust.
Her sound work Audio Obscura was commissioned in 2011 by Artangel and Manchester International Festival, and heard at Manchester Piccadilly station in July 2011 and London's St Pancras International Station in September and October 2011.
It won the 2011 Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry, the judges calling it "groundbreaking".

Greenlaw taught at Goldsmiths College, University of London.
She served as professor of creative writing at the University of East Anglia from 2007 to 2013, and as a visiting professor at King's College London (2015–2016) and Freie Universität Berlin (2017).
She currently holds the post of Professor of Creative Writing (Poetry) at Royal Holloway, University of London.

After judging the 2010 Manchester Poetry Prize, Greenlaw chaired in 2014 the judging panel for the inaugural Folio Prize.
She is a Council member of the Royal Society of Literature and a former Chair of the Poetry Society.

Greenlaw has lived in London for most of her life.
Lavinia Greenlaw was born in London into a medical and scientific family, and is one of two sisters and two brothers. When she was aged 11 the family moved from London to an Essex village, where they lived for seven years. This period Greenlaw has described as "an interim time" with "memories of time being arrested, nothing much happening."
Greenlaw went on to read modern arts at Kingston Polytechnic. She then studied at the London College of Printing and gained an MA in art history from the Courtauld Institute. She was employed as an editor at Imperial College of Science and Technology (1985–1986) and with the publishers Allison and Busby (1986–1987),  and subsequently with Earthscan (1988–90). She also worked as an arts administrator for Southbank Centre (1990–1991) and the London Arts Board (1991–1994).
Greenlaw's career as a freelance artist, critic and broadcaster began in 1994. She became the first artist-in-residence at the Science Museum (1994–1995), and has since held residences at the Royal Festival Hall, at a London solicitors' firm (1997–1998), and at the Royal Society of Medicine (2004). In 2013 she won an Engagement Fellowship from the Wellcome Trust. Her sound work Audio Obscura was commissioned in 2011 by Artangel and Manchester International Festival, and heard at Manchester Piccadilly station in July 2011 and London's St Pancras International Station in September and October 2011. It won the 2011 Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry, the judges calling it "groundbreaking".
Greenlaw taught at Goldsmiths College, University of London. She served as professor of creative writing at the University of East Anglia from 2007 to 2013, and as a visiting professor at King's College London (2015–2016) and Freie Universität Berlin (2017). She currently holds the post of Professor of Creative Writing (Poetry) at Royal Holloway, University of London.
After judging the 2010 Manchester Poetry Prize, Greenlaw chaired in 2014 the judging panel for the inaugural Folio Prize. She is a Council member of the Royal Society of Literature and a former Chair of the Poetry Society.
Greenlaw has lived in London for most of her life.
Lavinia Greenlaw