Colin Cramphorn was educated at Strode's Grammar School, Egham, before joining the Surrey Constabulary in 1975.
In September 1981 he went as a Bramshill scholar to the Faculty of Law (as it then was), King's College London, to study for the LL.B., and graduated in June 1984.
In 1998 he moved to the Royal Ulster Constabulary and he was briefly Acting Chief Constable of the RUC's successor, the Police Service of Northern Ireland, prior to the appointment of Sir Hugh Orde in May 2002.
Cramphorn continued as Orde's deputy until September 2002, when he was appointed Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police.
He quickly rose through the ranks becoming a Captain (SCC) RMR, later becoming a volunteer Headquarters Staff Officer for the Sea Cadets nationally.