Born in Essex, Lee was educated at the Royal Ballet School before joining Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet (subsequently Birmingham Royal Ballet) in 1988. In a 17-year career, he became a soloist, performed leading roles internationally and created new works with choreographers including Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Sir Peter Wright and Sir David Bintley.

Passionate about youth arts participation, he is Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Head of Creative Learning and Artistic Director of Freefall Dance Company – a company of dancers with learning disabilities, established in 2002.

Lee combines his work for Birmingham Royal Ballet with a career in coaching and leadership development across a wide range of business sectors. Recent clients include the NHS, Lego and Channel 4 amongst many other private and public sector organisations.

He has an MA in Applied Dance from the University of Birmingham and in 2005/6, Lee was the first Dance Fellow on the Clore Leadership Programme. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts, and currently sits on the Advisory Board of Warwick Arts Centre. In 2025 he was appointed an MBE in the KIng's 2025 Birthday Honours List for services to Dance and the Learning-Disabled community.