In 1972, Fred Van Oystaeyen obtained his Ph.D. from the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam.
In 1975 he became professor at the University of Antwerp, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science.
At the occasion of his 60th birthday, a conference in his honour was held in Almería, September 18 to 22, 2007;[3] on March 25, 2011, he received his first honorary doctorate from that same university, Universidad de Almería.
At the campus of Universidad de Almería the street "Calle Fred Van Oystaeyen" (previously "Calle los Gallardos") is named after him.
[4] In 2019, he received another honorary doctorate from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.