The family's farm on Alpha Centauri was his playground, and he showed a marked interest in flight at an early age. His parent's wealth allowed him to amass a collection of atmosphere and low entry spacecraft, and access to the training and licenses needed to fly them. He is the youngest person to ever earn an interstellar 50,000 ton Captains license at age fourteen. He also loves horses, and rode daily.

It was expected that he'd work his way up in the family business, Hawksley Armaments and Aerospace eventually replacing his father one day. Both parents were killed in a hovertrain explosion attributed to anti-Federation terrorists when he was thirteen, and his uncle Paieter Van der Puls took over the family business. The boy consoled himself with several reckless flights and his uncle removed the entire collection of craft, donating it to a private foundation. Lysander's decision to join boyhood friend Axelrood Hixx at Starfleet Academy astounded everyone, even Starfleet. While his mathematics scores were off the chart, and his 3-d and spatial awareness skills were above par, the remainder of his transcript was lackluster, to say the least. He took what money his parents had given him and immersed himself in a 'crash' attempt to re-take the exam. Barely passing the entrance requirements, he entered the Academy one year behind Hixx. His friend Hixx earned the nickname "The Fixer" because he usually smoothed over his friend's messes.

At Starfleet Academy, he participated in the Academy Flight Team, excelling in Acrobatics. His scores in everything but Flight Operations and Mathematics/Physics were barely good enough to keep him in. Socially, he was involved in mishap after mishap after mishap. Everything from altercations in the mess hall between Hawksley and the two roommates he was juggling romantically, to unauthorized use of simulators after hours, to Argassian Fire Creepers being put through the heating ducts of classmates rooms. Hawksley was famed for falling asleep during his stint on the Koyabashi Maru simulation and being tumbled from his station when the opposing forces hits shook the simulator, due to excessive partying the night before. He did receive the highest marks in his class for Flight Operations and Mathematics, but graduated near the bottom of his class because of the disciplinary problems. One of his Helm instructors was heard to comment..."That damned Prince Charming can fly anything with wings, upside down through an ion storm while drunk, blindfolded, and kissing a Simissian Sloth. He's usually trying to prove you right on two out of the three handicaps too." He received a promotion to Lt.j.g. upon graduation and was assigned to Advanced study at Oxford University in Advanced Mathematics. His shameful performance on graduation day, when he dumped a hover boat into San Francisco Harbor caused the promotion to be removed less than seven hours after the Commandant authorized it.

After being caught in a compromising position with a fellow lecturer at Oxford, he was transferred to Gor Vosh station, in the Dyson Sphere in Delta Quadrant. After a relatively quiet period there, the station Commander, Commodore T'Rel sent him back to BuPers saying "This is a research station, not a polo field."

A quiet stint aboard the USS Kimito followed, doing light picket duty amongst asteroid belts. Transferred to the USS St Louis, he had the distinction of reporting to duty there in the custody of Shore Patrol from Starbase 131 for 'unauthorized use of a Workbee and dangerous flight operations within Spacedock work zones.' After the Captain calmed down, she confined him to quarters, then a freak accident involving the Chief Helmsman put Hawksley in a position of responsibility. With the de-commissioning of the St Louis because of the breakdown of the upper command crew, he was assigned to the USS Galaxy.

Lysander was promoted to Lieutenant Commander and made Chief Tactical Officer on board the USS Galaxy in January 2378 by Captain John Brhode after several crew members were reassigned to other positions on the Galaxy and through out Starfleet Command. Captain Bhrode seemed to be pleased that Lysander had been fortunate enough to have attended Admiral Hoth's advanced Tactical training courses at the Wolf 359 Academy.

He also has the ability to make friends with almost anyone. He's very charming and more than aware of his own shortcomings and limitations. He usually finds complete strangers opening up and admitting things to him that they've never told anyone. He is a very sympathetic friend to his 'pals' but he has few close friends whom he confides in himself.

Romantically, he's always up for a tangle-free relationship, but he idolizes the idea of 'true love' and he'd never dream of leading someone on. He's pretty much searching for someone to 'settle down' with and enjoying the stops along the way.He's frightfully honest, usually blurting out exactly what he's thinking at that moment.

Most of his official reprimand have little to do with his job performance. When he's working, he's totally professional. His personal life does tend to leak into his professional, however. He likes to be in large groups of people, and the thought of talking on on one with someone he's interested in frankly scares him silly. He's loads of fun in a party situation, but the one-on-one friendship area usually involves someone taking care of Lysander.