Ka cika wannan magana: An haifi Perween Rahman a ranar 22 ga Janairu, 1957 a Dhaka, a Gabashin Pakistan (yanzu Bangladesh). Ta kasance daga dangin Bihari wanda ya koma Karachi bayan
yakin basasa a gabashin Pakistan a shekarar 1971. Ta sami digiri na farko na digiri a shekarar 1982 a Kwalejin Injiniya da Fasaha ta Dawood, da kuma digiri na biyu a cikin gidaje, gini da tsara birane a 1986 daga Cibiyar Nazarin Gidaje a Rotterdam, Netherlands. Ta yi aiki a wani kamfanin gine-gine mai zaman kansa kafin Akhter Hameed Khan ya ɗauke ta aiki don zama Babban Daraktan Gidan Gida na Orangi a 1983, inda ta gudanar da shirye-shiryen gidaje da tsaftacewa. A cikin 1988, an raba OPP zuwa ƙungiyoyi huɗu, kuma Perween Rahman ya zama darektan OPP-RTI (Orangi Pilot Project <unk> Research and Training Institute), tare da gudanar da shirye-shirye a cikin ilimi, horar da matasa, samar da ruwa da kuma gidaje masu aminci.