Pyotr Ivanovich Shchukin was born on February 18, 1853, in Moscow into a family of Old Believers, the well-known manufacturer Ivan Vasilyevich Shchukin. He had ten siblings: seven brothers and four sisters. Among his brothers were Dmitry, Nikolai, Ivan, and Sergey Shchukin.

Pyotr and his brother Nikolai studied at the Hirst boarding school in St. Petersburg. After graduating in 1871, Pyotr wanted to enter university, but his father sent him to the Berlin Practical Commercial School. In Berlin, he attended lectures on physics by Helmholtz. After finishing school, he worked at the trading house Abelsdorf and Meyer in Berlin, and from the spring of 1874, at the Saven and Barral weaving factory in Lyon, studying the production of silk fabrics. He lived modestly, receiving almost no help from his parents. In 1876, he began working at the Warburg commission house in Lyon with a salary of two thousand francs. Here he started collecting French books and portraits of famous personalities.

In the summer of 1878, Pyotr returned to Moscow, and in December of the same year, his father established the trading house 'I. V. Shchukin with Sons,' which included Pyotr and his brothers Nikolai and Sergey. At the beginning of his collecting activities, he focused on Persian carpets and products by Japanese, Chinese, and Indian masters.

From the early 1890s, Shchukin became interested in collecting monuments of domestic history. He acquired antique items at fairs in Russia and from European antiquarians, as confirmed by his correspondence.

In 1891, after his father's death, Shchukin purchased a plot on Malaya Gruzinskaya Street to house his collection. Architect B. V. Freidenberg designed the 'Museum of Russian Antiquities,' construction of which began in May 1892 and was completed in September 1893. The museum featured ancient engravings and works of art from Persia, Japan, and Russia.

In the early 20th century, Shchukin actively participated in exhibitions and sales of private collections, acquiring both entire collections and individual items from well-known collections.

In 1897 and 1898, a new museum building was constructed according to the design of architect A. E. Erichson. In 1905, opposite it, architect F. N. Kolbe built a single-story warehouse.

In 1905, Shchukin transferred his collection to the Russian Historical Museum in Moscow, for which he received the title of Actual State Councillor. He continued to care for the museum until the end of his life.

In August 1907, Shchukin married Maria Ivanovna Ponomaryova, who had two sons from her first marriage. In 1908, he rented an apartment for the family on Mansurovsky Lane.

Pyotr Ivanovich Shchukin passed away in 1912 from purulent appendicitis and was buried at the Pokrovsky Monastery cemetery.