Tan was born in Singapore in 1964.^[3]

Tan attended Monk's Hill Primary School and Monk's Hill Secondary School.^[4] He received a Promsho scholarship to study the humanities at Hwa Chong Junior College. But in his first year at JC, his mother fell seriously ill and went into a coma. This led to his decision to switch from the humanities programme.^[5] He studied at the National Junior College^[4] before graduating from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore in 1988 with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS).^[6]

While in National Junior College, he joined the choir as part of his Co-Curricular Activity (CCA).^[4]

Tan funded his university education all by himself, with an annual school fee of S$3,000,^[4] by tutoring junior college students in subjects like mathematics, biology, physics and chemistry.^[4] With up to eight students at a time, he earned about S$800 to S$1,000 per month.^[4]

He subsequently went on to complete a Master of Medicine degree in family medicine at the National University of Singapore in 1998.^[6] In 2003, he was awarded the Fellow of College of Family Physicians by the College of Family Physicians Singapore.^[7][6]

In 2004, he obtained a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.^[6]

In 2014, he became a Fellow of the Academy of Medicine Singapore.^[7]

In 1992, at the age of 27, Tan founded Healthway Medical Group with a group of friends, through a bank loan of S$90,000 and an initial capital investment of S$5,000 from each of the initial stakeholders.^[8][9] As co-founder and chairman of the company, he grew the group to become the second largest private primary care group in Singapore.^[9] In 2004, he successfully divested the group to British United Provident Association Healthcare.^[8]

In 2004, Tan joined Parkway Holdings as the chief operating officer of Mount Elizabeth Hospital^[9] and was eventually promoted to as the executive director of Pantai Holdings, chief executive officer of Pantai Hospitals Division and the head of Malaysia operating division of Parkway until 2008.^[6]

From 2010 to 2019, Tan was the group chief executive officer and managing director of Parkway Holdings and Parkway Pantai Limited.^[10][11] From 2014 to 2019, he was also the chief executive officer and managing director of IHH Healthcare BHD.^[11][12] During his tenures, some of his contributions included delisting Parkway Holdings in 2010 and relisting IHH Healthcare in 2012^[11] into one of the largest initial public offerings in the world in 2012, expanding and growing the group from 15 hospitals in 2009 to 84 hospitals as of the end of 2019,^[13] leading the mergers and acquisitions of Acibadem Healthcare (Turkey), Fortis Healthcare (India),^[13] and multiple hospitals across Asia. Under his leadership, IHH Healthcare Berhad has won multiple awards, including the Best Managed and Best Overall Corporate Governance Poll awards by Asiamoney in 2016.^[14]

In 2019, he retired from the position of group chief executive officer and managing director of Parkway Holdings and Parkway Pantai Limited.^[13]

Over the years, Tan has held numerous ministerial advisory and medical committee appointments. For instance, since 2009, he has been a member of the board of trustees of the College of Family Physicians Singapore (CFPS).^[15] He also served in various capacities with CFPS Holdings Pte Ltd, including as its chairman from 2008 to 2010 and vice president from 2011 to 2013.^[15] In November 2013, he was appointed by the Ministry of Health as a member of the MediShield Life review committee.^[16]

Moreover, he has maintained active involvement in academia through board memberships and appointments. From 2011 to 2019, he was adjunct assistant professor of Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore, Office of Education.^[17] He has also sat on the Advisory Board of Lee Kong Chian School of Business at Singapore Management University.^[18]

Apart from the medical field, he has also contributed to the business scene. In 2012, Tan was appointed a council member of the Singapore-Guangdong Collaboration Council.^[6][15] The council aims to deepen Singapore's engagement with China's Guangdong province and benefit Singapore businesses through joint exploration of new opportunities in the region.^[19]

Tan was fielded in the 2020 general election to succeed former prime minister Goh Chok Tong who retired from politics, as part of a five-member PAP team contesting in Marine Parade GRC and won. Thereafter, he was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Marine Parade division of Marine Parade GRC. Upon his electoral victory, Tan was appointed Second Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for Trade and Industry concurrently on 27 July 2020.

On 15 May 2021, Tan succeeded Josephine Teo as Minister for Manpower while holding onto his portfolio as Second Minister for Trade and Industry.

In response to the questions filed by six MPs, during a parliamentary debate on 3 October 2022, on how the foreign workforce was complementing the local talent pipeline and how locals were getting fair consideration for jobs, Tan said that it is not a zero-sum game and that bringing in global talents create jobs for locals.^[20]

2004: Tan was awarded the Long Service Award from the People’s Association (PA).^{[citation needed]}

2007: Tan was awarded the prestigious College of Family Physicians Singapore Albert and Mary Lim Award,^[21] the highest accolade awarded for contribution and services rendered to the college and to the discipline of Family Medicine. This was in appreciation of his contribution to CFPS, where he successfully organised the 18th Wonca World Conference in Singapore, which netted CFPS a net profit of more than US$1.3 million.^[22]

2015: Named Asia Innovator of the Year at the 14th CNBC Asia Business Leaders Awards (ABLA) 2015^[23]

2016: Asiamoney Best Executive in Malaysia,^[24] Asiamoney best CEO in Investor Relations^[24]

2017: Won the ABLA Corporate Social Responsibility Award^[25]

2019: Singapore Medical Association Merit Award 2019^[26]