John Lawrence Doyle was born in Chicago Illinois on March 14, 1939. He received his bachelors degree at the School of  the Art Institute of Chicago in 1962, and his masters degree at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois in 1967. Doyle was a art teacher at Forest View High School and Rolling Meadows High School in Arlington Heightls, Illinois between 1962 and 1972.

Doyle was known for his series of stone lithographs reflecting his fascination with the human condition. For over a decade, Doyle studied ethnology and anthropology. The product of this study was a visual recording of what Doyle learned and set down in drawings. The drawings became the foundation for lithograph series' which developed into a life's work art project which Doyle titled The Great Human Race. The prints visually records categorical statements about civilization. The content is about the cultural development of particular disciplines such as Medicine, Law, Archiecture, and Business.

These portfolios were done in collaboration with Roland Poska at Fishy Whale Press in Rockford, Illinois. John L. Doyle had more than 50 one man national exhibitions, participated in more than 30 national and international group exhibitions, and is the recipient of more than 32 awards, including purchase prizes. He and Roy Oliver created a company they called Chrysalis Publishing to publish and market his portfolios.

Doyle was the recipient of an Honorary Mention at the International Printmakers, 1971; George Brown Travelling fellow, 1962. He served on the Board of Directors Family Violence Coalition, Yancey County Volunteer Cooperative in North Carolina.

John Lawrence Doyle died on March 15, 2010 in Burnsville, North Carolina.