Lola Dewaere is the daughter of actor Patrick Dewaere and Élisabeth (known as Elsa) Malvina Chalier. She is the half-sister of Angèle Herry-Leclerc (born in 1974), daughter of Patrick Dewaere and the actress Miou-Miou, who was adopted by Julien Clerc in 1992.

After her father’s suicide on 16 July 1982 in Paris, her mother faced the tax authorities because of the debts he left, and entrusted Lola to her own parents, who lived in Saint-Lambert-du-Lattay (Maine-et-Loire). Coluche offered to be Lola’s godfather at her baptism, but her grandparents refused. Although bright, she was often unruly and had difficulty at school.