Poh Chap Yeap was born in 1927 in Kota Baharu, Malaysia. He came to England in 1948 to study law, and his pottery career began in Aarhus, Denmark, in 1961. He returned to Britain the following year to study ceramics at Putney Evening Institute and then Hammersmith College of Art. In 1967 he was a research student in ceramics at the Royal College of Art.

He is a fine thrower and worked in porcelain and stoneware making bowls, dishes and decorative vessels. His work has been exhibited world wide and he has taught at various schools and polytechnics.

Until 1986, when he stopped potting, Yeap worked at Ewhurst, Surrey, and now lives in Cranleigh, Surrey.