Laurie Bristow was born 23 November 1963, the son of Stanley and Hilary Bristow. He was educated at Colchester Royal Grammar School and Trinity College, University of Cambridge (BA 1986; PhD 1991), also taking an MBA from the Open University in 2001. In 1988 he married Fiona MacCallum, having two sons.

Bristow entered the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1990 and his diplomatic career included: Far Eastern Department, FCO, 1990-91; Second Secretary, Bucharest [Romania], 1992–95; First Secretary, Trade Policy Desk, European Union Department (External), FCO, 1995–96; Private Secretary to Minister of State for Europe, FCO, 1996-98; First Secretary, Ankara [Turkey], 1999–2002; NATO Defence College, Rome [Italy], 2002–03; Deputy Director, Iraq Planning/Policy Unit, FCO, 2003; Ambassador to Azerbaijan, 2004–07; Deputy Head of Mission, Moscow, 2007–10; Director, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, FCO, 2010–12; Director, National Security, FCO, 2012–15; Ambassador to Russia, 2016–20; UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties Regional Ambassador to Middle East, North Africa, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and China, 2020; Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, 2021; Russia Strategy Adviser, FCDO, 2022.