Born in Wichita, Kansas, Frizzell received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Tulsa in 1981 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School in 1984.
He was a law clerk for Judge Thomas Rutherford Brett of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma from 1984 to 1986, thereafter entering private practice in Tulsa, Oklahoma from 1986 to 1995, and then serving as general counsel to the Oklahoma Tax Commission from 1995 to 1997.
From 1997 to 2007, he served as a judge of Oklahoma's 14th Judicial District.
On January 9, 2007, Frizzell was nominated by President George W. Bush to a seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma vacated by Sven Erik Holmes.
He was elevated to chief judge on March 14, 2012, succeeding Judge Claire Eagan, who had been appointed to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.