Born in 1986 in Gaborone, Botswana, where many artists from South Africa, including his father, musician Steve Dyer, were living in exile during apartheid, Bokani Dyer moved back to SA as a child in 1990. He grew up mainly in Johannesburg before moving to study jazz at the prestigious University of Cape Town, where he graduated with distinction. In 2009 Dyer was runner up in the SAMRO (SA Music Rights Organisation) Overseas Scholarship Competition and spent 3 weeks in New York, where he was tutored by Jason Moran. In 2014, he was invited to perform at the opening of the London Jazz Festival, as well as in a tribute to South African supergroup, The Blue Notes, led by Shabaka Hutchings.