Lam earned his doctorate in algebraic topology from the University of Cambridge in 1983, after writing his thesis under the direction of Frank Adams.

[3] Lam also taught short courses at the Capital Normal University in Beijing before his wife announced her candidacy for chief executive in December 2016.

[5] He and his two adult sons hold Hong Kong and British nationality, allowing Carrie Lam the ability to move to the UK alongside her family.

[8][9][10] During the ceremony of the 20th anniversary of the handover of Macau in 2019, Lam was spotted not clapping and not singing during a group sing-along of the patriotic song "Ode to the Motherland" led by Chinese President and General Secretary of the Communist Party Xi Jinping.

[14] According to the mathematics review database zbMATH Open, Lam has only one publication so far, published when he was doing his PhD.