Warren has been involved in a number of
excavations. In 1961, he joined
Sinclair Hood's excavation of the Royal Road at
Knossos. He then remained with Hood for three more trips looking for unknown sites in
Crete. Next, he was involved in the
British School at Athens excavation of
Palekastro for one season and the excavation at
Lefkandi for two seasons. the excavation report was completed and published in 1972. Warren began his academic career at the
University of Birmingham. Having completed his doctorate and a number of excavations, he joined Birmingham as a lecturer in 1972. He was promoted to
senior lecturer in 1974 and appointed
Reader in Aegean Archaeology in 1976. In 1977, he joined the
University of Bristol as Professor of Ancient History and
Classical archaeology. In addition to his teaching and research at Bristol, he took on a number of administrator posts. He was
dean of the Faculty of Arts from 1988 to 1990 and
pro-vice-chancellor of the university from 1991 to 1995. He retired from teaching in 2001, becoming
professor emeritus, but continued his research as a
senior research fellow in archaeology and anthropology. ==Honours==