Luke grew up in Cape Elizabeth, ME – a third-generation lobsterman. He attended college at Georgetown University, after which he moved to New York to start a career in investment banking. He was remiss to find that every lobster roll available was overpriced, drowning in mayo, and diluted with celery. He craved a real Maine-style roll and simply couldn’t find one. In 2009, Luke turned to his roots and longstanding relationship with the Maine lobstering community to cut out the middleman and bring Maine lobster to the heart of NYC, with the help of his father, lobsterman and the first licensed lobster processor in the state of Maine, Jeff Holden, and later joined by his brothers Bryan and Mike.

Luke’s lobster is a vertically integrated seafood business. Luke’s Lobster has investments in Maine wharfs and Coops; both e-commerce and consumer packaged goods businesses; and has grown its restaurant business beyond its founding city of New York City, with homes in Washington, DC, Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston, Las Vegas, Miami, San Francisco, Seattle, Newport, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Singapore and Maine. What sets Luke's Lobster apart is its commitment to sustainability and traceability. They pride themselves on working directly with fishermen to ensure that their seafood is responsibly harvested, supporting local communities and protecting marine ecosystems.

Luke sits on the board of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. In 2018, Luke’s Lobster furthered its commitment to sustainability and socially conscious business practices by becoming a certified B Corporation®. The same year, Luke’s was named the Global Supplier of the Year by Whole Foods Market and received the Purpose Driven Empowerment award by the retailer. Luke Holden has been named one of Real Leaders 2018 Top 100. Over the years, Luke has also been included on the Forbes’ 30 under 30, Inc 30 under 30, Zagat’s 30 under 30, and Crain’s 40 under 40, and was most recently interviewed on NPR’s How I Built This podcast and The Today Show. In 2024, Luke’s received Travel + Leisure’s Global Vision Award. Luke lives in South Portland, Maine with his wife, Laisee and three daughters, Poppy, Banks, and Hadley, and loves sharing his passion for fishing and the ocean with all four of them.