Suzanne Elizabeth Warner (née Reeder) was born on 12 August 1942, the daughter of Charles Clifford Reeder and Elizabeth Joan Armstrong Reeder. She was educated at Badminton School in Bristol, Sussex University and Cambridge University. She married Jonathan Reeve in 1967 (divorced 1980), with whom she has one son, and Norman Reginald Warner in 1990, with whom she has one son.

She worked at the Home Office Research Unit, 1966-7, and then joined the Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS), where she was Personal Assistant to the Secretary of State for Social Services, 1968-70, and Principal, 1970-3. She was a member of the Central Policy Review Staff (CPRS), 1973-4. She returned to the DHSS as Assistant Secretary, 1979-85. She was then Secretary, 1985-8, and Acting Chairman, 1987-8, of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC); Executive Director of Food from Britain, 1988-90; and Chief Executive of the Foundation for Education Business Partnerships, 1990-1.

She joined BT plc (British Telecommunications plc) as Personal Adviser to the Deputy Chairman, 1991-3; then moved to Cable & Wireless plc as Head of Group Government Relations, 1993-6, and Group Director of Government Relations, 1996-7. She was Deputy Chairman of the Broadcasting Standards Commission, 1998-2003, and Chairman of Botanic Gardens Conservation International, 1999-2005.

She was awarded the OBE in 2006.