From 1945 to 1959 he played in several important bands, including those of Benny Carter, Wardell Gray, Gigi Gryce, Lionel Hampton, Jay McShann, Gerry Mulligan, Johnny Otis, and Horace Silver. He and Benny Golson led the Jazztet from 1959 to 1962, after which he formed a group with Jim Hall. In 1968 he joined the Austrian Radio Orchestra and lived and toured in Europe for several years.
Farmer also recorded extensively as a leader throughout his later career.