McLaren was born the youngest of three boys, for mother Kerena, growing up with brothers Rhett and Aidan in Wonthaggi, Victoria,[1] and grew up on a dairy farm near Loch, belonging to his ancestors from Scotland (his family still lives there).

McLaren's first main cast role came in 2004 with the children's series Silversun, which aired on both the Seven Network and the ABC.

2005 also saw McLaren work on Last Man Standing, and achieve a solid footing on the advert voiceover circuit.

He was The Marquis De Sade in WAAPA's production of Marat/Sade,[3] The Man in Tender Napalm and, in his graduating year, received great reviews playing the title role in Shakespeare's Coriolanus.

In 2018, it was announced that McLaren had joined the cast of Seven Network soap opera Home and Away as recurring character Lance Salisbury during the show's thirty-first season.