Conrad was born in Laguna Beach, California to parents Jim and Kathy. She is the oldest of three children. Her younger siblings are Breanna and Brandon.

Reality television

2004—2005: Laguna Beach

During Conrad's senior year of high school, she appeared in the MTV reality series The Real Orange County in which she agreed to have her life taped. Upon graduation in 2004, she attended the Academy of Art University in San Francisco for one semester along with her friend, Heidi Montag. During the second season of Laguna Beach, she returned home and began taking classes at a local community college before subsequently transferring to the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising.

2006—2009: The Hills

The first season of The Hills premiered on MTV on May 31, 2006. The series documented Conrad's move to Los Angeles, her work at Teen Vogue, and her personal life and the lives of her friends, including then-roommate Heidi Montag, and her friends Audrina Patridge, and Whitney Port.

The series was later renewed for a second season. It filmed from late summer 2006 through February 2007, and premiered on January 15, 2007. During that time, Conrad and Montag's friendship deteriorated, as Heidi was increasingly spending her time with her new boyfriend, Spencer Pratt. By February 2007, Audrina Patridge became Conrad's roommate after Heidi moved into a separate apartment with Pratt.

Filming the third season of The Hills began in mid-summer 2007 and lasted through March 2008. The premiere episode of season 3 aired August 13, 2007. During that time, Conrad was able to revive her position at Teen Vogue and was offered a second trip to Paris alongside Whitney Port. By March 2008, Port had already left Teen Vogue for fashion PR firm People's Revolution, and after asking Conrad to assist at an event, Kelly Cutrone noticed her work ethic and invited her to work for her company.

Filming for the fourth season of The Hills began in mid-summer 2008 and lasted through November 2008. The premiere episode of Season 4 aired August 18, 2008. Filming for Season 5 began in January 2009, and the premiere episode aired April 6, 2009. Conrad has stated that the fifth season would be her last, She made her final appearance in the series on May 31, 2009. The program continued without her, with Kristin Cavallari being hired as Conrad's replacement.

In March 2010, it was confirmed that the sixth season of The Hills will be the last. There was much speculation that Conrad will make a guest appearance for the series finale. The series ended on July 13, 2010, after airing six seasons and 102 episodes.She did not appear in the finale, but later said that she filmed an alternate ending of the series with Brody Jenner.

She was also a guest judge on America's Next Top Model.

2010—present: New series

On September 24, 2010, Conrad announced on On Air with Ryan Seacrest that she will star in an upcoming MTV reality series. The show, tentatively titled Lauren Conrad: Fiercely Fashionable, will focus on her career in the fashion industry. She says the series "will be something very different" from The Hills, in that her personal life will not be a part of the show. MTV will make an official announcement of the series during the week of September 27. The show is set to premiere in mid-October 2010.

Fashion lines

Conrad landed an internship at Teen Vogue while filming season one of The Hills. Conrad and her reality show appearances have been credited with improving sales of Teen Vogue. It was reported in March 2007 that since the second season of The Hills began airing in mid-January, newsstand sales for the magazine increased by double digits over 2006 sales. According to Lisa Love, the West Coast editor of Vogue who evaluated Conrad for the internship position, Conrad had to interview successfully in order to get the job, "regardless of what the cameras wanted".

Conrad developed a new fashion line, the Lauren Conrad Collection, that debuted at the Mercedes Benz LA Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios in March 2008. In March 2009, Conrad announced that she would be taking a hiatus from the fashion line; the spring and summer 2009 lines have been canceled. She earns an estimated $1.5 million annually for her television appearances, fashion line, and product endorsements. In fall 2009, Conrad launched LC by Lauren Conrad in Kohl's stores nationwide.

Books

On June 16, 2009, Conrad released her first novel, L.A. Candy. Based on Conrad's personal life, L.A. Candy is a novel about a young woman who moves to Los Angeles and becomes the star of a reality TV show. Conrad's second book of the trilogy, Sweet Little Lies, was released on February 16, 2010. The final book of the series is Sugar and Spice, and is due for release on October 5, 2010.

Conrad is set to release another book, Style, about her experiences in and her knowledge of the fashion industry. It is also due for release on October 5, 2010. Conrad is writing a spinoff of the L.A. Candy series, which will follow the character Madison.

Endorsements

In January 2007, Conrad was named the first official spokesperson of "mark.", a line created by Avon and marketed toward young women. She was featured in the brand’s magalog and in the "mark." online community. Conrad was replaced by Ashley Greene in June 2010.

As of April 24, 2008, Conrad is also the national spokesperson for College Tonight.

Television and film

In 2007, Conrad appeared as a satirical version of herself in the comedy Epic Movie.

In 2008, Conrad made a cameo appearance in an episode of Greek. In May 2009, Conrad appeared as a cartoon version of herself in an episode of Family Guy.

Conrad appeared as a guest judge during Cycle 13 of America's Next Top Model.

In August 2009, Conrad appeared on an episode of the tenth anniversary edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, playing for her charity: m.powerment by mark. She was asked one question for $50,000 and answered correctly after using her "Ask the Audience" lifeline. She recently guest starred on My Life on the D-List.

Lauren had several relationships with fellow co-stars in and outside Laguna Beach and The Hills such as Brody Jenner, Jason Wahler and Stephen Coletti. She has remained friends with all and was often pictured with Brody during The Hills. She is now dating actor Kyle Howard.