Yasmeen Lari was born in the town of Dera Ghazi Khan and spent her early years in and around Lahore. Her father, Zafarul Ahsan an Indian Civil Service (International Correspondence Schools ) officer was working on major development projects in Lahore and other cities and Yasmeen Lari was exposed to architecture through her father.
Upon the rejection of an architecture school for not being able to draw, Yasmeen Lari studied two years of arts in London before finally being accepted into the Oxford School of Architecture.
Her sister is Pakistani politician Nasreen Jalil. When she was 15 years old, she first left Pakistan to go to London with her family. She became the first female architect among the dozen architects in Pakistan.
Initially in her career, she faced many difficulties when workers at construction sites would challenge her authority or knowledge because of her gender.
Her later projects included housings, such as the Angoori Bagh Housing (ABH) (1978), and business buildings, such as the Taj Mahal Hotel (1981), the Finance and Trade Center (1989), and the Pakistan State Oil House (PSO Company headquarters) (1991) in Karachi. Lari retired in 2000 from architectural practice.
Since 2010 Yasmeen Lari, has built over 36,000 houses for those affected by Pakistan"s floods and earthquakes. Lari implements traditional building techniques and local materials in rebuilding the Sindha Valley region of Pakistan.
In 2013 she helped villagers in Awaran District who were hit by the 2013 Balochistan earthquake.
In 2002, the Heritage Foundation received the Recognition Award from the United Nations System in Pakistan for its efforts and results. In 2006, Lari was awarded Sitara-e-Imtiaz, one of the highest civil awards, by Government of Pakistan in recognition of her services to the architectural profession and heritage conservation. In 2011, she received the Pakistani "1st Wonder Women of the Year Award".
In 1969, Lari was an elected Member of Royal Institute of British Architects (Royal Institute of British Architects).
