Lorenzo Apicella was born in Ravello, Italy, and studied architecture at Nottingham University, Canterbury College of Art and The Royal College of Art in London. He worked for Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, CZWG, and Imagination before establishing Apicella Associates in 1989. He brought his team to Pentagram in 1998.

He is a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and a Fellow of both the Chartered Society of Designers and the Royal Society of Arts. His work has been widely published and has featured on television and radio. He has served as a visiting critic to numerous schools of architecture and as a validator to the The Royal College of Art in London. He is currently an external examiner to both Birmingham and Oxford Brookes universities.