Peter Lohmeyer was born January 22, 1962, in Niedermarsberg in the Sauerland, as one of three sons of a Protestant pastor. He grew up in Hagen until his family moved to Stuttgart in 1974. He played football with VfB Stuttgart and was an active member of the grammar school theatre project group "Ebelu". In 1978, his family moved to Dortmund where Peter Lohmeyer played at the children"s and youth theatre. From 1982 to 1984, he attended Westfälische Schauspielschule Bochum, but abandoned his studies to make his stage debut at Kammerspiele of Schauspielhaus Bochum.

In the summer of 1985, Ivan Nagel, the artistic director of Württembergisches Staatstheater, brought Lohmeyer to Stuttgart. Besides his acting career, Lohmeyer also dealt with used cars by Mercedes-Benz. In 1988, he went to Düsseldorf"s Schauspielhaus but changed for Berlin"s Schillertheater in 1990.

While still attending drama school, Lohmeyer was already recording radio plays and got his first leading role in July 1983 as prisoner Kotte who is out on parole in Alexander von Eschwege"s TV movie "Noch ein Jahr und sechs Tage". Eschwege also put Lohmeyer in his 1985 film "Der Kampfschwimmer". In it, Lohmeyer played pool attendant Udo who develops fantasies about violence and is persuaded by his friend, a 15-year old wheelchair user, to blow up a gasoline tank.

In 1986, he collaborated with director Dominik Graf for the first time and played a gambler in the episode "Der kleine Bruder" of the TV crime film series "Der Fahnder". Lohmeyer also made successful performances in several of Graf"s films: He played canteen cook Florian in the TV comedy "Tiger, Löwe, Panther" (1989) and the unsuccessful philosophy student and gambler Jojo alongside Anica Dobra in "Spieler" ("Gamblers", 1990). In the comedy "Neuner", Lohmeyer played the son of a contractor (Manfred Krug) who, instead of studying, scrounges his way through life, in the comedy "Hausmänner" (1991), he played the likable, diaper-changing Mike, and in Peter Sehr"s history film "Kaspar Hauser" (1993) Lohmeyer played the part of Leopold von Baden. In "Einer meiner ältesten Freunde" (1994), a modern love triangle story, Lohmeyer portrayed the charming artist Charley Hart with the "monotonously floating voice" who pinches his friend"s lover.

In "Die Eroberung der Mitte" (1995; directed by Robert Bramkamp), Lohmeyer casually played the ruthless psychotherapist Mark Stroehmer who exploits his patients. In 1994, he set up the film production company "Glück-Auf-Film" that funded the production of Lars Becker"s film "Bunte Hunde" ("The Break", 1995) with 120.000 Deutsche Mark. But this dark ballad about three stolen car dealers starring Til Schweiger and Lohmeyer as cool hostage-taker Toni Starek turned out to be an economical flop. Nevertheless, Lohmeyer"s second attempt in co-production was more successful: Lohmeyer starred as the crime novel author Theo Bono in the Hamburg-based low budget production "Die Mutter des Killers" ("The Killer’s Mother", 1996).

In between times, Lohmeyer again and again starred in TV series, for instance, in 1995, in several episodes of the crime film series "Die Straßen von Berlin". Lohmeyer often switched between genres and role types when selecting his TV roles. Thus, he played a gangster in the award-winning TV law thriller "Der Ausbruch", a hard gangster in the TV crime film comedy "Liebe Lügen" ("Love Lies"), inspector Graf in the horror crime film "Sieben Monde" ("Night Time"), drug dealer Cramberg in "Der Pirat", and a police man in "Still Movin"". Furthermore, Lohmeyer won the Filmband in Gold for his performance as inspector Fanck who has to arrest a suspect, a shy beer delivery man (Joachim Król), in Finland, in the rail and road movie "Zugvögel .... Einmal nach Inari" ("Trains ’n’ Roses", 1997).

In 1998, Frank Beyer put Lohmeyer in his TV docu-drama "Abgehauen", a film version of the best-selling book by Manfred Krug who describes his last days in the GDR in November 1976 in diary accounts. In the co-production "Frontera Sur" (1998), Lohmeyer played the bandoneon player Herman Frisch who had to emigrate to Argentina in 1880 for political reasons. In Sönke Wortmann"s box office hit "Das Wunder von Bern" ("The Miracle of Bern", 2003), he played the leading role of Richard Lubanski, a returning prisoner of war, who cannot sympathize with his son – played by Lohmeyer"s son Louis Klamroth – and his passion for football.

During the following years, Lohmeyer performed in a row of highly different films: As a smut peddler in "Süperseks" (2004), an eco activist in the satire "Am Tag als Bobby Ewing starb" (2005) or a chauffeur in "Vorne ist verdammt weit weg" (2007), he displayed his comic side, while his single parent in "Oktoberfest" (2005) or his architect in "Vineta" (2006) again proved his talent for dramatic roles.

In 2008, Lohmeyer played the part of police detective Hanno Harnisch in three episodes of the TV series "Großstadtrevier", and in 2010, he was seen in a double role in the TV series "Allein gegen die Zeit". On the silver screen, he had a pivotal cameo in Fatih Akin's comedy "Soul Kitchen" (2009) and a supporting role as school principal in the youth drama "Bis aufs Blut – Brüder auf Bewährung" (2010). Alongside Leon Seidel, Heike Makatsch, Benno Fürmann, and Joachim Król, he starred in the movie adaptation of Mark Twain's "Tom Sawyer", which was released in late 2011.

Peter Lohmeyer married renowned TV chef Sarah Wiener in 2008. He has four children from previous relationships.