Warren Reed was born and brought up in Hobart, Tasmania. He did 2 years National Service in the Australian Army, after which he returned to study at the University of Tasmania. He graduated in Political Science and Business Administration and won the University prize for international relations. Having studied Japanese language along the way, he was awarded an Australia-Japan Business Cooperation Committee Scholarship and carried out 3 years postgraduate research in the Law Faculty of Tokyo University, where all written and spoken communication was in Japanese.

There, he focused on Japan's economic relationship with Australia and the high degree of interdependence that came from Australia supplying raw materials to Japan's industrial machine. At that time, Japan was also developing a new economic relationship with China, which itself was starting to open up to the outside world. Warren also focused his research on the ways in which that new relationship was formed. A number of Japanese business people were then studying Mandarin Chinese in preparation for postings to Beijing and Shanghai. Warren joined one of the first such language courses and twice a week in Tokyo was the only foreigner studying Chinese conversation alongside 60 Japanese businessmen. All instruction was in Japanese, which he found an interesting - and demanding - exercise: learning one foreign language in another.

Warren later worked in Tokyo for Australian resources interests, where he was involved in major contractual negotiations. After that, he returned to Australia where he was recruited into the Australian intelligence system. He served in that capacity for 10 years in Asia and the Middle East, after which he returned to Australia and took up a new career in business. He was for 3 years chief operating officer of the Committee for Economic Development of Australia. Today, he is a business advisor, university lecturer and commentator in the media on international affairs.

The foundation for his media commentary, as well as for virtually everything else he has done since, was firmly established during his days as a foreign student.