Fraser-Reid was born in Coleyville, Jamaica to William, an elementary school principal, and Laura, a teacher. He had five older siblings. Laura died when Fraser-Reid was only nine months old. He attended Excelsior High School and Clarendon College before moving to Canada to earn BSc (1959) and MSc (1961) at Queen's University in Ontario He went to University of Alberta to earn a PhD in 1964 under the supervision of Raymond Lemieux. He went to Imperial College London to do postdoctoral work for Nobel Laureate Sir Derek Barton from 1964 to 1966.