Simon Fraser was born 3 June 1958, son of James Stuart Fraser and of Joan Fraser. He was educated at St Paul’s School and Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge. He is married to Shireen Fraser, having two daughters.

Fraser joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1979 and his diplomatic career included: Second Secretary, Baghdad [Iraq], 1982-84; Second Secretary, Damascus [Syria], 1984-86; First Secretary, FCO, 1986-88; Private Secretary to Minister of State, FCO, 1989-90; Policy Planning Staff, FCO, 1991-92; Assistant Head, Non-Proliferation and Defence Department, FCO, 1992-93; First Secretary, Financial and Economic Affairs, Paris [France], 1994-96; Deputy Chef de Cabinet of Vice-President of EC, 1996-99; Political Counsellor, Paris, 1999-2002; Director for Strategy and Innovation, FCO, 2002-04; Chief of Staff to Peter Mandelson, EC, 2004-08; Director General for Europe and Globalisation, FCO, 2008-09; Permanent Secretary, BERR [Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, later Department for Business, Innovation and Skills], 2009-10; Permanent Under-Secretary of State, FCO, and Head of Diplomatic Service, 2010-15.