Count Aleksander Fredro, of the Bończa coat of arms, was born in the village of Surochów near Jarosław, then a crown territory of Austria. A landowner's son, he was educated at home. He entered the Polish army at age 16 and saw action in the Napoleonic wars, including the Moscow campaign. His memoir Topsy Turvy Talk, which echoes the style of Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy, recounts his military experiences during Bonaparte's last campaign. While in France in 1814, he took an active interest in French drama. After leaving the army he settled on his estate and began as a writer.

Fredro made his literary debut in 1817, but he was not interested in the problems of Romanticism. He wrote social comedies about the lifestyle of the Polish nobility and is known for his skill in characterization and plot, as well as the flexibility of his language. His work also features humor typical of folk theatre from the period, or farce.

Two of Fredro's tales, The Monkey in the Bath (Małpa w kąpieli) and Paul and Gawel (Paweł i Gaweł), are children's stories. His best known comedy, Zemsta (The Revenge), was in 2002 adapted for the screen in Poland.

Fredro was the maternal grandfather of the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, Metropolitan Andriy Sheptytsky.