He was educated at King Edward VI School, Stratford-upon-Avon.
Lawrence filled numerous roles in his political career, specialising in the promotion of tourism in the Midlands.
He was a member of the Stratford-on-Avon District Council from 1982, on the South Warwickshire General Hospital NHS Trust, a member of the Heart of England Tourist Board from 1989 (and Chairman after 1991), a governor of King Edward VI School and of Stratford-on-Avon Girls Grammar School, and a Governor of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.
He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2003 for services to the tourist industry, and an honorary MA of the University of Worcester.
He contracted polio at the age of three, and used a wheelchair for the rest of his life.