The son of Sir Christoffel Brand, speaker of the House of Assembly of Cape Colony, he was educated at South African College, Cape Town, and the University of Leiden in The Netherlands. He returned to Cape Town in 1849 to begin a successful law practice.

While serving as a member of the Cape Parliament, Brand was called to serve as president of the Orange Free State in 1864. He was to be reelected four times, and he occupied the office until his death. Firmly but tactfully he dealt with the almost insurmountable difficulties of the unstable republic. After a long and costly war with the Basuto (now called Sotho) people, he demanded such severe terms that their chief, Mshweshwe, persuaded the British to annex Basutoland, now Lesotho (1868). As a diplomat, Brand succeeded in gaining £90,000 in compensation from the British, who had annexed the diamond fields of Griqualand West in 1871. Throughout the war between Great Britain and the Transvaal in 1880–81, he worked tirelessly for peace and acted as mediator during the negotiations. He was knighted by Queen Victoria for his services in 1882. At home, Brand's prudent administration resulted in prosperity, despite limited resources, and gained for his country the sobriquet “the Model Republic.”