In the 1940s, Palmer was a member of the British Army, where he attained the military rank of Lieutenant.

After the end of World War II, Palmer became a member of the teaching staff at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, with a post of Lecturer from 1950 to 1960.

In 1952, Palmer travelled in Ethiopia for one year carrying out fieldwork in the local languages.

In 1965, he and a number of Bangor colleagues moved to the University of Reading to establish the Department of Linguistic Science.

Palmer was appointed Professor of Linguistic Science and under his headship the department quickly developed an international reputation.

Palmer pointed out the current interest in mood and modality, as well as in grammatical typology in general.