Ro was born on January 17, 2340 on Bajor to Ro Talia and Ro Gale.
(TNG: "Conundrum", "The Next Phase") Ro had grown up in the Bajoran diaspora, as one of the thousands displaced into refugee camps by the Cardassian occupation of her homeworld.

(TNG: "Ensign Ro")

In 2347, Ro was shown the true nature of the occupation as she was given a piece of sugar candy by a Cardassian who led her to a room where she found her father sitting inside. She was forced to sit and watch as her father was tortured until he died.

Ro Laren entered Starfleet Academy in 2358 and graduated with the class of 2362.
(TNG: "Conundrum", "The Next Phase")

One of Ro's early assignments was aboard the USS Wellington. During that assignment in the mid-2360s she disobeyed orders and 8 crew members died.
Jean-Luc Picard felt that, had Ro not lost her rank following the subsequent court martial, she could have been a lieutenant commander by late 2368. (TNG: "The Next Phase")

In 2368, Ro was released by Admiral Kennelly and reinstated into Starfleet in exchange for helping locate a Bajoran terrorist. While secretly conducting her mission, Ro was assigned to assist the USS Enterprise-D on stardate 45076.3.
(TNG: "Ensign Ro")

Geordi La Forge and Ro Laren later attempted a rescue in the small access area between decks 10 and 11, above Ten Forward When they finally made their attempt, they were unable to get all three crew members in the beam, which eventually led to the abortion of their rescue attempt.
(TNG: "Power Play").

On the recommendation of Captain Picard, Ro attended Starfleet's Advanced Tactical Training where she graduated in late 2370. Following her graduation, she was reassigned to the Enterprise with the rank of lieutenant, where she was given quarters on deck eight, section four.
(TNG: "Preemptive Strike")

In 2370 Ro was assigned to infiltrate the Maquis. Although a bit reluctant she agreed, partially to validate Captain Jean-Luc Picard's belief in her. By having Lt. Commander Data and Lt. Worf faking pursuit on the pretext she had killed a Cardassian soldier, she gained the attention of the Maquis Santos in a DMZ settlement bar.

She was kidnapped by Santos and was briefly questioned by him, Kalita and Macias. Macias immediately took a liking to Ro and trusted her even before her alibi was verified by Santos. He eventually became a father-like figure.

She later gained the trust of the rest of the Maquis by "stealing" medical supplies from the Enterprise-D. After gaining the Maquis' trust, she had them plan to invest significant resources to attack a Yridian convoy, which in actuality was a Federation trap.

Soon after, three Cardassians attacked the area near the Maquis cell, and killed Macias who with his dying breath told Ro, "When an old fighter like me dies, someone always steps forward to take his place". She started questioning her loyalties, and tried to have the fake convoy trap canceled by claiming the Maquis would not invest resources to attack. However, Picard saw through her lies and questioned her resolve. She claimed she would carry out her duties but Picard had Commander Riker accompany her to the attack.

During the attack she drew a phaser on Riker, and fired a low-intensity particle beam from the shuttlecraft that revealed a Starfleet attack force hiding in a nebula near the bogus convoy. When the Maquis retreated, she had her ship move towards the Enterprise so Riker could leave. When asked why she was going with the Maquis, she claimed "It's been a long time since I really felt like I belonged somewhere." Just before she beamed to another Maquis ship, she asked Riker to tell Picard she was sorry for betraying his trust.

(TNG: "Preemptive Strike")

In 2373 Cardassia joined the Dominion, and quickly slaughtered the vast majority of Maquis; however, Ro's fate remains unknown. (DS9: "Blaze of Glory")