Rowan Chase is the father of Robert Chase. He appears to be from a wealthy Australian family (probably of Czech descent; in the episode "Cursed," House speculated that his accent is "Czech with about 30 years Aussie," which he confirms; Jesse Spencer is Australian himself), and Robert has also had a rough relationship with his father, Rowan, a famous doctor in his own right, as Chase talks to House about trying to mend the gap with his father many times, but finding his father simply didn't care.