Lucie Rie (née Gomperz) was born in Vienna in 1902 to a Jewish family. During the 1920s she studied ceramics at the Vienna Kunstgewerbeschule, the well-respected school of Art and Design. She had success with her work whilst still at art school, with pieces featured in exhibitions and publications.
At the age of 36 she left Austria, which was under the growing presence of the Nazi party. She moved to London where she and her husband, Hans Rie, parted ways and Lucie settled in London to resume her ceramics career. Despite her success in Vienna she was unknown in London and struggled to make a living. During the war she took on factory work, and started producing ceramic buttons. She welcomed other emigrants to work with her in her studio, including Hans Coper, who arrived in 1946 with no experience of ceramics, but went on to become an important potter. Her work grew in popularity from the 1950s; Rie exhibited in important exhibitions and achieved commercial success.
Lucie Rie taught at Camberwell School of Art in London from 1960-1971, ensuring her continued influence on modern pottery. She continued to make pots until a series of debilitating strokes in the early 1990s. She died in 1995.