Roch Carrier was born in the small town of Sainte-Justine, Quebec, in 1937. He received a B.A. from the Université Saint-Louis in Edmunston, New Brunswick, a master’s degree from the University of Montreal, and a doctorate at the Sorbonne in Paris. His first published book, La Guerre, Yes Sir! was released in 1968 and has since been adapted by the author for theater, touring with the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Russian-occupied Czechoslovakia, and Canada. He was secretary general of the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde in Montreal, the director of the Canada Council from 1994 to 1997, and appointed National Librarian in October 1999.

Carrier has travelled across Canada and the world giving lectures, readings, writing workshops, and always promoting Canadian writers. He lives in Montreal.