Born in London (1943), Chris Orr was a student at the Royal College of Art 1964-1967. He was elected a Royal Academician in 1995 and was Professor of Printmaking at the Royal College of Art from 1998-2008. Orr was awarded an MBE and made Professor Emeritus in 2008. He was elected as Treasurer of the Royal Academy and served from 2014 to 2018.
Chris Orr has had numerous exhibitions throughout the world which include: ‘The Complete Chris Orr’ (touring show), 1976; ‘Many Mansions’ (touring show), 1990; Six Royal Academicians in China’, shown in Beijing, Shanghai, and London, 2005; LithORR graphy’, Royal Academy, Fine Rooms 2012. ‘The Miserable Lives of Fabulous Artists’ Royal Academy 2018. He has had 15 one person shows with the Jill George Gallery, and 3 one person shows with the Brook Gallery. He shows annually at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and the London Original Print Fair.
Orr's work is in public collections including The Arts Council of England, The British Council, The British Museum, The Government Art Collection, The Palace of Westminster Collection, The Ruskin Library at Lancaster University, The Queens Collection, National Portrait Gallery, Royal Academy of Arts, Science Museum, Tate Britain, and Victorian and Albert Museum.