Prithvi Raj Chavan was born on March 17, 1946, in Indore Central Province. His parents were Dajisaheb Chavan and Premla. He is the eldest of three brothers and sisters. His younger sisters are, Nirupama Ajit Rao Yadav-Deshmukh and Vidyulata Venkatrao Ghorpade. Dajisaheb was a Member of Lok Sabha from the Karad constituency from 1957 to 1973 and served as minister in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, and Indira Gandhi. After Djisaheb's death in 1973, Chavan's mother, Premla (known as Premalkaki (Aunt Premala), contested from her late husband's constituency and served her in the by-election in 1973 and till her death in 1977, 1984, and general elections.

Prithvi Raj Chavan started his schooling at a local municipal Marathi-medium school in Karad. After his father moved to Delhi, Chavan enrolled in the innovative Marathi school in Delhi. Chavan graduated from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani in Mechanical Engineering. After graduating in 1967, he won a UNESCO scholarship in Germany and later moved from the University of California, Berkeley, to a Master of Science degree. He wrote articles on computer science; Also contributed to research in engineering design and computerization. He also worked as a design engineer in the US, working on defense electronics, anti-submarine warfare, computer storage systems, and the computerization of Indian languages.

Prithvi Raj Chavan started his political career in 1991 by winning the Karad seat of his parents in the old Lok Sabha. He won the seat three times in 1991, 1996 and 1998, but lost in 1999. He served as Minister-in-charge of Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, and Prime Minister's Office. Earlier, he also served as Minister of State for Atomic Energy. After the latter's participation in the Adarsh Housing Society scam, Chavan made Ashok Chavan the chief minister and forced him to resign. The reasons for his choice reported by the media included the notion that he had a "clear image" and that his political supporters did not have his own faction within the state.

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