Stephen Friend grew up in Savannah, Georgia. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a bachelor's in accounting. He transitioned from business to a career in law enforcement in 2009. Friend was a sworn police officer in Savannah and Pooler, Georgia, for four years before joining the FBI in 2014. He spent his first seven years in the FBI investigating violent crime and major offenses occurring on Indian reservations in Northeast Nebraska. Friend was also a member of the FBI Omaha SWAT team for five years. He transferred to Daytona Beach in 2021 to investigate child exploitation, human trafficking, and child sexual abuse material. Friend was reassigned to domestic terrorism casework in October 2021. He was indefinitely suspended as an FBI special agent following his whistleblower disclosures in September 2022.

Friend is a married father of two sons.