Bernard MacLaverty was born in Belfast on 14 September 1942, and lived there until 1975 when he moved to Scotland with his wife, Madeline, and four children (Ciara, Claire, John, and Jude). He has been a Medical Laboratory Technician, a mature student, a teacher of English and, for two years in the mid 1980s, Writer-in-Residence at the University of Aberdeen.

MacLaverty was educated at St Malachy's College and Queen's University in Belfast, and has written the novels Cal, Lamb, a novel about faith, relationships and ultimately love, Grace Notes, which was shortlisted for the 1997 Booker Prize, and The Anatomy School. He has also written five acclaimed collections of short stories, the most recent of which is Matters of Life & Death.

Cal was adapted for the screen by the author in 1984 starring Helen Mirren and John Lynch (Mark Knopfler composed the film soundtrack). He also adapted Lamb for the screen starring Liam Neeson, with a soundtrack by Van Morrison. He has written versions of his fiction for other media - radio plays, television plays, and screenplays. In 2003 he wrote and directed a short film "Bye-Child" (BAFTA nominated for "Best Short Film") and more recently wrote the libretto for one of Scottish Opera's Five:15 series - "The King's Conjecture" with music by Gareth Williams.

He has lived in Scotland since 1975, and currently lives in Glasgow.