In 1995, Fogle graduated from North Central High School in Indianapolis. He graduated from Indiana University in 2000 and then worked briefly in the revenue management department at American Trans Air.

Fogle first came to media attention in April 1999, via an article written by a former dorm-mate about Fogle's weight loss and published in the Indiana Daily Student. Subsequently, Fogle was featured in a Men's Health magazine article, "Stupid Diets ... that Work!" According to the article, Fogle had become obese through lack of exercise and eating Jun K food.

As a test, the company ran a regional television advertising campaign. The first ad aired on January 1, 2000, introducing Fogle and his story with the following disclaimer: "The Subway diet, combined with a lot of walking, worked for Jared. We're not saying this is for everyone. You should check with your Doctor before starting any diet program. But it worked for Jared."

Fogle married Elizabeth Christie, a pediatric nurse, on October 14, 2001; the couple divorced on October 18, 2007. In November 2009, Fogle became engaged to Kathleen "Katie" McLaughlin, a Teacher.

In 2002, Fogle was the subject of an episode of South Park titled "Jared Has Aides" Fogle has stated that while the episode had "typical[ly] tasteless humor", the fact that an entire episode was devoted to him was "very flattering". He added, "you know you've made it when shows like South Park start parodying you."

In 2004, Fogle established the Jared Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on raising awareness about childhood obesity through educational programs and tools provided to parents, schools, and community organizations.

Fogle first came to the attention of law enforcement in 2007, when reporter Rochelle Herman-Walrond told police in Sarasota, Florida, that he had made salacious comments to her about middle school-aged girls at a school health event she was covering for a local news station. She made recordings of Fogle's remarks and saved text messages between them, and then went to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), where agents asked her to wear a wiretap during her conversations with him. Herman-Walrond befriended Fogle and, for the next four years, surreptitiously recorded her conversations with him as part of an ongoing federal investigation. She recorded him making several remarks about having had sex with underage girls and asking her to install a webcam in her children's rooms so he could watch them. Ultimately, however, the FBI could not pursue a case against Fogle using the recordings, because they needed more hard evidence against him.

Following Fogle's arrest, the FBI also subpoenaed a series of text messages made in 2008 between Fogle and Subway franchisee Cindy Mills, with whom he was having a sexual relationship at the time; in these messages, Fogle talked about sexually abusing children ranging in age from nine to 16, told her to sell herself for sex on Craigslist and asked her to arrange for him to have sex with her 16-year-old cousin. Mills’ Lawyer said that she had alerted Subway's corporate management about the text messages, but that they had responded that because Fogle was not a Subway employee, there was no violation. Subway representatives said they had no record of Mills' allegations.

Fogle's role in Subway afforded him some other opportunities, such as appearances in WWE in 2009 and 2011. By 2013, Fogle had filmed more than 300 commercials and continued to make appearances and speeches for the company. Subway attributed one third to one half of its growth in sales to Fogle, with revenue having tripled from 1998 to 2011.

In January 2010, People magazine reported that Fogle had gained back 40 pounds (18 kg) and planned to lose it by way of his Subway weight-loss program for his upcoming wedding. Fogle and McLaughlin married in August 2010 and had two children together, a son and a daughter.

According to documents released by federal prosecutors, Fogle has also agreed to pay a total of $1.4 million in restitution—$100,000 to each victim. Fogle faced up to 50 years in prison had he gone to trial; however, as part of the plea deal—which was not binding on the sentencing judge—prosecutors agreed to seek no more than 12½ years. In return, Fogle agreed to a minimum sentence of five years. Soon after the plea deal was announced, Subway announced via Twitter that it had completely severed ties with Fogle. As a condition of his plea deal, Fogle would be restricted to supervised contact or communication with minors upon approval of his probation officer. Supervised visits with his own children would be allowed only with approval of their mother. Fogle had already made a request to visit his two children in September, but McLaughlin contested it. Upon release from prison, Fogle will be required to register as a sex offender for the remainder of his life and undergo treatment for sexual disorders.

On August 19, 2015, following Fogle's appearance in federal court on charges of sex with minors and child pornography, his wife released a statement through her attorney announcing that she was seeking a divorce. She added that she was focused "exclusively on the well-being of my children" and would have no further comment. Their divorce was finalized on November 16, 2015; Fogle agreed to pay his now ex-wife $7 million. According to court filings, she had traveled out of state before Fogle's guilty plea, and opted to stay in an undisclosed location to protect herself and the children from the "media circus" surrounding Fogle's crimes.

On October 24, 2016, Kathleen McLaughlin's lawyers filed suit against Subway in Indiana. The suit alleges that Subway violated McLaughlin's privacy and property rights, and caused personal injury to McLaughlin by covering up at least three instances of Fogle's illegal behavior that were reported to senior management, including the allegation that Subway's senior vice President of marketing hushed up a 2004 incident in which Fogle propositioned a young girl at a promotional event at a Subway franchise in Las Vegas. The lawsuit was dismissed in October 2017, with the judge writing that McLaughlin failed to show that Subway "directed conduct" that caused her harm.

On November 8, 2017, Pratt dismissed a motion filed by Fogle hoping to overturn his convictions by stating that the federal court did not have jurisdiction to convict him. She also dismissed another motion filed on behalf of Fogle by fellow inmate Frank Pate stating the court did not have jurisdiction because of Fogle's status as a sovereign citizen.