Roger Carrick was born on 13 October 1937, the son of John H. and Florence M. Carrick. He was educated at Isleworth Grammar School and in 1962 married Hilary Elizabeth Blinman; they have two sons.

Carrick joined the Foreign (subsequently Diplomatic) Service in 1956. After completing his National Service in the Royal Navy, (1956-58), he was sent to the School of Slavonic and East European Studies at London University in 1961 to learn Bulgarian, before his first posting to Sofia (1962). His subsequent career included: Foreign Office (1965); Paris [France] (1967); Singapore, (1971); Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO, 1973); Counsellor and Deputy Head, Personnel Operations Department, FCO (1976); Visiting Fellow, Institute of International Studies, University of California, Berkeley [United States] (1977-78); Counsellor, Washington (1978); Head, Overseas Estate Department, FCO (1982); Consul-General, Chicago (1985-88); Assistant Under-Secretary of State (Economic), FCO (1988-90); Ambassador, Republic of Indonesia (1990-94); High Commissioner to Australia (1994-97).