Roy Dean was born 18 February 1927, the son of Arthur Dean and Flora Dean (née Clare). He was educated at Watford Grammar School, London College of Printing and Graphic Arts (diploma) and the College for Distributive Trades (MIPR). In 1954 he married Heather Sturtridge: they have three sons.

After serving in the RAF (1945-48) in India and Pakistan, Dean joined the Central Office of Information, where he worked for ten years. In 1958 he joined the Diplomatic Service, and his subsequent diplomatic career included: Second, later First Secretary, Colombo [Sri Lanka], (1958-62); Vancouver [Canada], (1962-64); Lagos [Nigeria], (1964-68); Foreign and Commonwealth Office, (1968-71); Consul, Houston [United States], (1971), Acting Consul-General, (1972-73); FCO, (1973-76); Director, Arms Control and Disarmament Research Unit, (1976-83); Deputy High Commissioner, Accra [Ghana], (1983-86), Acting High Commissioner, (1986). Dean was also a member of the United Nations Secretary-General’s expert group on disarmament institutions, (1980-81) and editor of Arms Control and Disarmament, (1979-83), as well as being a national crossword champion. Dean died on 25 December 2018.