He became a Christian under the ministry of Pentecostal evangelist Lonnie Frisbee. Then, at the age of 19, he had the opportunity to lead a Bible-study of 30 people originally started by Frisbee at All Saints Episcopal Church in Riverside, CA. The church that formed from this group has grown to become one of the largest churches in the United States.

Laurie holds two honorary doctorates from Biola University and Azusa Pacific University. He serves on the boards of directors for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Associationand for Samaritan's Purse.

Laurie has written several books, including The Upside-Down Church (1999, co-authored with David Kopp: the book won a Gold Medallion Book Award in the "Christian ministry' categoryin 2000), Every Day with Jesus (1993), and Wrestling with God (2003). he has published Loser and Winners, Saints and Sinners: how to finish strong in the spiritual race. He also worked as a contributing author of study notes for the New Believer’s Bible and The Seeker’s Bible: New Testament : New Living Translation (Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2000, ISBN 0842339280).

Host of the television program Knowing God with Greg Laurie and of the syndicated radio program A New Beginning, Laurie has appeared on ABC World News Tonight, Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN. He also functions as a guest commentator at Worldnetdaily.com, and appears regularly on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN).

Laurie also founded (1990) and features as a speaker for public evangelistic events called Harvest Crusades ... large-scale evangelistic outreach projects which local churches organize nationally and internationally. Well over three million people Harvest Crusades in California, Seattle, Oregon, Philadelphia, New York, Hawaii, Florida, North Carolina, New Zealand and Australia.

Laurie resides in Newport Beach with his wife, Catherine. They have had two sons, Christopher (1975—2008) and Jonathan (1986). Christopher died in a car accident.

The car accident occurred July 24, 2008.http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/shows/cwn/2008/July/Car-Crash-Kills-Pastor-Greg-Lauries-Son-/