Sue Lawrence was born in Dundee but lived and went to school in Edinburgh, before returning to Dundee to study French at university. She then trained as a journalist with DC Thomson.

Having taken time off her career when her three children were small, she took up writing again after winning BBC Masterchef in 1991. She was cookery columnist for the Sunday Times then Scotland on Sunday and also wrote for several magazines and appeared regularly on TV and radio.

She won a Glenfiddich Food and Drink Award in 2003 and two Guild of Food Writers Awards, in 1998 and 2001. She was President of the Guild of Food Writers from 2004–2008.

She is author of 15 cook books, including Sue Lawrence’s Book of Baking, Scots Cooking and A Cook’s Tour of Scotland.