His first patron was Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, who seems to have thought of putting him forward as a rival to Sir Christopher Hatton for the queen's favour.
In a commission to inquire into manors unjustly alienated from the crown in the west country he did not altogether please the queen, but nevertheless received a grant of some forfeited lands in Somerset in 1588.
George Puttenham, in the Arte of English Poesie speaks of "Maister Edward Dyar, for Elegie most sweete, solemne, and of high conceit."
One of the poems once universally accepted as his is "My Mynde to me a kingdome is", which Steven W. May considers as possibly written by Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford.
The Sixe Idillia from Theocritus, reckoned by John Payne Collier among Dyer's works, were dedicated to, not written by, him.
Episode 1 of the British TV series Help has Poll (Cathy Tyson) reciting Dyer's "My Mind to Me a Kingdom Is".