Jean-Pierre Jouyet joined the French General Inspectorate of Finance in 1980 after graduating from the Ecole Nationale d’Administration in the class known as the "Promotion Voltaire".

He was chief of staff to Roger Fauroux (1988-1991) and then Jacques Delors, President of the European Commission (1991-1995).

He became deputy chief of staff to Prime Minister Lionel Jospin (1997-2000) and then Head of the French Treasury for four years.

He was appointed Minister of State for European Affairs (May 2007 to December 2008) and then Chairman of the French securities regulator, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (2008-2012).

He served as Chief Executive Officer of Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations and Chairman of Banque Publique d’Investissement (BPI) (2012-2014).

He was Secretary General of the French President’s Office (April 2014-May 2017) before being appointed French Ambassador to the United Kingdom (September 2017-September 2019).

He was selected as Permanent Representative of France to the OECD (June 2019-October 2020).