His father, a German immigrant, was a member of the town council, owned a farm where they raised animals and ran a distillery.

Although the quality of that education was not particularly impressive, Roed's enthusiasm was enough to inspire his parents to send him to Copenhagen in 1822 after his confirmation to train at the Royal Danish Academy of Art (Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi).

He showed his talent as an architecture painter early on, and twice won competitions in this discipline at the Art Union (Kunstforening).

I baggrunden domkirken" ("A Street in Roskilde, in the Background the Cathedral") painted in 1835–1836 is in the collection of the National Gallery of Denmark.

He features the cathedral in an atmospheric streetscape, which combines his architectural perspective with a sense of its surroundings and the people that live there.

Starting in 1835 he began seeking a travel stipend from the Academy, but he had stiff competition from both Wilhelm Marstrand and Louis Gurlitt, fellow students who would be prioritised higher than him for these limited funds.

A major work from this period was "Fængselsgården i Palazzo del Bargello" ("Prison Yard at the Palazzo del Bargello"), where Roed combined his fine sense of architecture with a lively group of local people into a scene fit for a genre painting.

They had two children, son Holger Roed, who would become an artist like his father, and daughter Helena (Helena Nyblom, née Roed), a Swedish-Danish writer who would marry Carl Rupert Nyblom [da], art historian and member of the Swedish Academy.

He traveled from November 1861 to March 1862, first to London for the World's Exhibition where his work was on display, and then to Paris, Florence and Rome.

He traveled again to Italy between August and November, 1871 (Pompeii, Capri, Rome), to Berlin July–August 1873 and to Paris August–September 1878 for the World Exhibition.

His training and career began against the backdrop of an exciting time in Danish history, the transition between the authoritative monarchy and the establishment and development of democracy—the period of the Golden Age of Danish Painting as promoted by Eckersberg, and the strong sense of patriotism and nationalism exemplified by Høyen's theories.

Roed's artistic abilities continued to be solid throughout his lifetime, although the Golden Age ideals he represented were long gone, and replaced by new creative impulses.

His academic efforts can not be underestimated as many young artists were trained under his solid and inspiring leadership during his 25 years as professor.