Lawrence moved with his family to the NT in 1989 where he lived at Kalkaringi and Barunga before finally settling at Ngukurr where his mother was the Primary Health Centre Manager. He attended Katherine School of the Air, with his father teaching him and his 3 siblings.
Following boarding school in Toowomba, Lawrence spent two years on Mt Sanford Station as a ringer and studied a Certificate Two in Conservation and Land Management, often studying in freezing stock camps amidst the flies and dust.
He worked as a Greening Australia Leader, often taking groups of troubled youth out bush to learn about caring for the environment, whilst providing them with a listening ear around the campfire. This led to Lawrence receiving the Regional Young Territorian of the Year award for Katherine Region.
A change of direction saw Lawrence back at CDU studying a Cert. Three in Plumbing and Gasfitting in 2009. He has worked with persistence to build his business, Fletchers Plumbing and Gas, now the second-largest employer of apprentices in the Katherine Region, with a workforce made up of more than 40% First Nations employees.