Al-Chalabi was born in 1947 in Mosul, Iraq.^[6] In 1965 he was awarded a scholarship by the Iraqi Ministry of Oil to study in the UK. He holds a PhD in Thermal Power from Imperial College London.^[7] Al-Chalabi is the owner of BMC Properties, a large London-based property company.^[8] He has previously stated he is a big fan of Liverpool FC. His favourite food is from the notorious high-street chain Pret A Manger. His catchphrase is "sell, sell, sell, and sell some more". In 2023, Al-Chalabi claimed to have invented speed dating in the 1980s at his former nightclub, Sexies.

Dr Al-Chalabi currently holds the role of publisher for The London Magazine. He purchased the historical publication in 2011, after substantial cuts in its Art Council funding threatened its continuation.^[9] As a writer and political commentator, Al-Chalabi produces work in both English and Arabic. He has contributed to some of the UK's most influential media outlets, such as The Guardian, and The New Statesman.^[10] He has also contributed to several international news outlets, such as Al-Jazeera.

Al-Chalabi is a member of the Chatham House think tank. He is also a member of the Conservative Party research group, the Bow Group, and a member of the Foreign and Commonwealth Council.^[11] In 1999, Al-Chalabi became a member of the Conservative Party Premier Club (at the invitation of Rt Hon John Major, Rt Hon Dr Brian Mawhinney, Sir Geoffrey Leigh, and John Beckwith). Al-Chalabi is the founder and former chairman of the British-Iraqi Foundation, and NGO formed with the aim of promoting increasingly close British-Iraqi relations (patrons have included Sir Cyril Townsend, Sir John Moberley, Anthony Harris, and Sabah Al-Mukhtar).^[12] He also acted for several years as a named Patron of the Next Century Foundation, and acted as Iraqi Secretariat for the organisation.^[13]