Kenneth Kitchener Carroll was born on March 9, 1923 in Carroll's Crossing, New Brunswick to Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Carroll. He graduated with first class honours in 1939 from Fredericton High School, and soon after enrolled at the University of New Brunswick. Carroll briefly served as a 2nd Lieutenant in the University of New Brunswick Contingent of the Canadian Officers Training Corps. He earned both a Bachelor of Science degree (1943) and a Master of Science degree (1946) at the University of New Brunswick, as well as a Master of Arts degree from the University of Toronto (1946). Carroll then moved to London, Ontario; after three years of study under the supervision of James Bertram Collip and Robert Laing Noble, Carroll earned the first Doctor of Philosophy ever conferred at the University of Western Ontario (in medical research).
In 1952, Carroll pursued post-doctoral studies the University of Cambridge, returning in 1954 to teach biochemistry at the University of Western Ontario. Upon his retirement in 1988, Carroll was named Professor Emeritus. Carroll continued to research after his retirement; he was instrumental in developing Western's Centre for Human Nutrition, and acted as its director from its opening in 1990 until his death.
Kenneth Carroll was elected as Fellow of the Chemical Institute of Canada, the American Institute of Nutrition, and the Royal Society of Canada. He was awarded the Earle Willard McHenry Award from the Canadian Society of Nutritional Sciences and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Section of the American Oil Chemists' Society. In 1993, Carroll was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science from the University of New Brunswick.
On August 26, 1950, Kenneth Carroll married Margaret Eileen Ronson (b. 28 July 1923); the Carrolls had three children. Kenneth Carroll died on October 3, 1998; he is interred at London's Mount Pleasant Cemetery.