Nick Kwek was born in Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland, to a Scottish mother and a father of Malaysian-Chinese heritage. Growing up in a family that ran a local restaurant, he developed a fascination with food, culture, and human stories from an early age. He has two sisters, each successful in their own right.

Kwek attended the University of Edinburgh, graduating with a Master of Arts (Honours) in Philosophy and English Literature (2006–2010). During his time there he served as a film critic and lifestyle feature reporter for The Student newspaper and worked as a DJ for FreshAir Student Radio. He subsequently earned a BJTC-accredited Master’s Degree in TV Current Affairs Journalism and Production from City, University of London (2010–2011).

His BBC career has taken him from the Arctic Circle to the Great Barrier Reef, where he has documented breakthroughs at institutions including Harvard, NASA, and Tokyo’s robot restaurants. He has interviewed leading figures such as MIT’s Noam Chomsky, IBM’s Francesca Rossi, and Meta’s Yann LeCun, and has collaborated with Apple, Google, Microsoft, Samsung, and NASA.

For a special episode of Discovering the World’s Table, Kwek travelled to Borneo with his father George to document the cuisine and culture of his father’s homeland of Sabah in Malaysian Borneo — his first return in nearly 20 years. The episode aired on BBC News and BBC iPlayer on 1 February 2025.

Nick Kwek is married to Andrea Kwek, who also studied at the University of Edinburgh. The couple keep their personal life largely private.