John Edward Lawler was born 19 May 1908 in Mobile, Alabama to parents Ida Dickens and Matthew Joseph Lawler, Sr. He attended boarding school and college at Spring Hill, a Jesuit school in Mobile. In 1930 he moved to Washington, D.C., and he received law degree in 1935 from Georgetown University. He joined the ranks of the Federal Bureau of Investigation that same year.

As an FBI agent, he received assignments to the Buffalo and Los Angeles field offices in the first few years of his career before returning to Washington in 1937 where he would serve in several different divisions. His work in Washington included the investigation of automobile thefts and kidnappings, as well as intelligence operations. He also recounts in the collection's oral history that, for a time, he was an administrative assistant to J. Edgar Hoover. In 1939, Lawler was appointed Special Agent in Charge of the Richmond field office, but in August of the following year, he was called back to Washington to assist with the organization of the agency's Special Intelligence Service. Lawler was assigned to the Special Agent in Charge post in Richmond once again in 1942, a position he would hold until his retirement in 1950. Lawler and his wife, who met and married in Richmond, had two daughters and two sons before their divorce in the mid-sixties.

Following his retirement from the Bureau, Lawler established a private legal practice and was engaged by the Union Life Insurance Company, later renamed the Interstate Mutual Fire Insurance Company, as a vice-president and general counsel. At the same time, Lawler also took on work for the newly created Central Intelligence Agency, organizing the Richmond-based Old Dominion Research Company, an entity used by the CIA for agent support and training.

Lawler was also an active member of the Richmond political scene. He served as a member of the Richmond City Council from 1956 to 1960, starting out by filling six months of Ed Haddock's unexpired term and was subsequently elected to two more terms. Other community roles he took on included serving as an alternate director of civil defense and as chairman of the city's Personnel Board, as well as holding seats on law enforcement advisory boards for the city and state. Lawler was also a dedicated member of the city's exclusive Commonwealth Club, particularly in his later years.

On 31 December 1982, Lawler was found dead in his Riverside Drive home at the age of 74. Four young people had broken into Lawler's home, robbed him, and beaten him to death. John Ballard, was found guilty of the murder, and the other three were convicted on related charges.