Lowe was educated at Dragon School in Oxford,^[1] Haileybury College, and at Brasenose College, Oxford.^[2]

After graduation in 1972,^[2] Lowe intended to train as a teacher. He joined the BBC in 1972 on the same day as Jeremy Paxman under the graduate journalist programme. He worked as a political correspondent at Westminster and then spent time as a journalist in Northern Ireland during the worst of what became known as The Troubles. Later his work for the BBC took him as far afield as Ethiopia and Argentina.^[2]

From the mid-1990s he was a newsreader on BBC One bulletins, also becoming a frequent presenter on radio programmes such as PM. His final work for the BBC until his retirement in 2009 saw him presenting on the BBC News Channel on Fridays between 7pm and 10pm, and Saturdays and Sundays between 7pm and 12 midnight. His co-presenters included Annita McVeigh and Joanna Gosling. Lowe was replaced in April 2009 by Clive Myrie.^[3]

Chris Lowe lives in Ealing, West London. His son Alex is the award-winning rugby correspondent for The Times newspaper and his daughter Rebecca works as a sports presenter^[2] for NBC Sports in the US.

A lifelong Crystal Palace supporter,^[2] Lowe was an elected member of the Executive Board of Middlesex County Cricket Club (2010–2019),^[2] and is a former chairman of its Dining Club. He also chairs regular forums for The Cricket Society for whom he was appointed as a vice-president in 2006, a position he shares with Derek Underwood and Tim Rice as of 2015^[update].^{[4][needs update]}