Jewel was born May 23, 1974 in Payson, Utah, the second child of Attila Kuno "Atz" Kilcher and Lenedra Jewel Kilcher (née Carroll). At the time of her birth, her parents had been living in Utah with her elder brother, Shane; her father was attending Brigham Young University. She is a first cousin once removed of Actress Q'orianka Kilcher. Her father, originally from Alaska, was a Mormon, though the family stopped attending The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after her parents' divorce when she was eight years old. Her paternal grandfather, Yule Kilcher, was a delegate to the Alaska Constitutional convention and a state senator of German descent who settled in Alaska after emigrating from Switzerland. He was also the first recorded person to cross the Harding Icefield.

Shortly after her birth, the family relocated to Anchorage, Alaska, settling on the Kilcher family's 770-acre (310 ha) homestead. There, her younger brother, Atz Jr., was born. She also has a half-brother, Nikos, who was primarily raised in Oregon by his mother, with whom her father had a brief relationship; she would later become close to him in adulthood. After her parents' divorce in 1981, Kilcher lived with her father in Homer, Alaska. The house she grew up in lacked indoor plumbing and had only a simple outhouse. The Kilcher family is featured on the Discovery Channel show Alaska: The Last Frontier, which chronicles their day-to-day struggles living in the Alaskan wilderness. Recalling her upbringing, she said:

In the late 1990s, Mike Connell created an electronic mailing list for fans, known as "Everyday Angels". Although Jewel herself does not subscribe to this mailing list, she maintained communication with her EA fans. On July 18 and 19, 1996, she gave a two-day concert known as "JewelStock" at the Bearsville Theatre. Jewel allowed the concert to be taped, and fans circulated the concert without profit.

Kilcher was discovered by Inga Vainshtein in August 1993 when John Hogan, lead singer from the local San Diego band Rust, whom Vainshtein was managing, called to tell her about a girl Surfer who sang at a local coffee shop on Thursdays. Vainshtein drove to The Inner Change with a representative from Atlantic Records, and after the show they called Danny Goldberg, the head of Atlantic Record's West Coast operations, and asked him to pay for her demo, since at the time she was living in a van and lacked the means to record any of her own music. Vainshtein, who at the time was working as a film executive at Paramount, eventually became her manager and was instrumental in creating a major bidding war that led to her deal with Atlantic Records. She continued to manage Jewel until the end of the first album cycle. Her debut album Pieces of You was released the eponym of Jewel, in 1995 when she was 21 years old. Recorded in a studio on singer Neil Young's ranch, it included Young's backing band, The Stray Gators, who played on his Harvest and Harvest Moon albums. Part of the album was recorded live at The Inner Change Cafe in San Diego, where she had risen to local fame. The album stayed on the Billboard 200 for two years, reaching number four at its peak. The album spawned the Top 10 hits "You Were Meant for Me", "Who Will Save Your Soul", and "Foolish Games". The album eventually sold over 12 million copies in the United States alone.

Jewel was in a relationship with actor Sean Penn in 1995 after he spotted her performing on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. He invited her to compose a song for his film The Crossing Guard and followed her on tour.

For a time, Kilcher lived in her car while traveling around the country doing street performances and small gigs, mainly in Southern California. She gained recognition by singing at The Inner Change Cafe and Java Joe's in San Diego; she would later make her debut record at Java Joe's when it was in Poway, where she had worked as a barista. Her friend Steve Poltz's band, The Rugburns, played the same venues. She later collaborated with Poltz on some of her songs, including "You Were Meant for Me". (He also appeared in the song's second, better-known video.) The Rugburns opened for Jewel on her Tiny Lights tour in 1997. Poltz appeared in Jewel's band on the Spirit World Tour 1999 playing guitar.

Jewel has also had ventures into writing; she published a book of poetry titled A Night Without Armor in 1998. Although it sold over 1 million copies and was a New York Times best seller, it received mixed reviews. During an MTV interview in 1998, Kurt Loder pointed out the incorrect usage in her book of poetry of the word "casualty" (intended as something to the effect of "of a Casual nature") to which Jewel responded, "You're a smartass for pointing that out. Next topic." In the fall of '98, the poet Beau Sia composed a book-length response to "A Night Without Armor" entitled "A Night Without Armor II: the Revenge." The reviewer Edna Gundersen, writing in USA Today, noted, "Hers is flowery and sensitive. His is wry and absurd."

Jewel made her acting debut in 1999 playing the character Sue Lee Shelley in Ang Lee's Western film Ride with the Devil, opposite Tobey Maguire. The film received mixed-positive reviews, though critic Roger Ebert praised her performance, writing: "Jewel deserves praise for, quite simply, performing her character in a convincing and unmannered way. She is an Actress here, not a pop star trying out a new hobby."

In November 2001 the album This Way was released. The album peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 and sold over 1.5 million copies in the U.S. A song from the album "Standing Still" hit the Top 30. Other singles released were "Break Me", "This Way", and "Serve the Ego", the latter giving Jewel her first number one club hit.

Jewel has been estranged from her mother (who also served as her Business manager) since 2003; the singer has accused her mother of stealing millions of dollars from her.

Jewel is the daughter of Atz Kilcher, who stars in the Discovery Channel show Alaska: The Last Frontier. All three of her brothers live in Alaska. Her cousin is Actress Q'orianka Kilcher who is best known for her role as Pocahontas opposite Colin Farrell and Christian Bale in Director Terrence Malick's Academy Award-nominated motion picture The New World (2005).

Jewel served as the honorary chairperson of the 2006 Help the Homeless Walk in Washington, D.C.

She later had a cameo as herself in Walk Hard (2007). In June 2012, Jewel was cast in the lead role as June Carter Cash in the Lifetime original movie Ring of Fire. In 2017, she appeared in two television mystery films on the Hallmark Channel: Framed for Murder: A Fixer Upper Mystery, and Concrete Evidence: A Fixer Upper Mystery, both in which she plays the character Shannon Hughes, a contractor and investigator.

She married pro rodeo Cowboy Ty Murray on August 7, 2008, in the Bahamas after 10 years together. Their son, Kase Townes Murray, was born on July 11, 2011. On July 2, 2014, after nearly 6 years of marriage, Jewel announced on her website that she and Murray were divorcing.

In early 2009 it was announced that Jewel would release a new studio album titled Lullaby, a collection of lullabies which she described as "not just for children, but also adults". Its lead single, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", was released on iTunes on March 17, 2009. The album was released on May 5, 2009. "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" was No. 1 on The Top Children's Songs the week of release. Like 2011's The Merry Goes 'Round, it is sold under the Fisher Price brand which Jewel described as "a great partnership".

In January 2010 Jewel released "Stay Here Forever" from the Soundtrack to the film Valentine's Day. It also served as the lead-off single to Jewel's ninth studio album Sweet and Wild released on June 8, 2010. The single debuted at No. 48 on the Hot Country Songs chart and reached No. 34 in May 2010. "Satisfied" was released as the album's second single on May 17, 2010, reaching its highest peak of No. 57. On October 10, 2010, Jewel released the third single from Sweet and Wild, "Ten". It made its debut on the Hot Country Songs Chart at No. 55 on the week of October 15, 2010, and peaked at No. 51 two weeks later.

Jewel's second children's album, The Merry Goes 'Round, was released in August 2011. Like 2009's Lullaby, it is sold under the Fisher-Price brand.

On October 16, 2012, Jewel announced via Twitter a Greatest Hits album would be released in 2013. The album features new duets from Kelly Clarkson and the Pistol Annies. Jewel and Clarkson recorded a fresh rendition of Jewel's song "Foolish Games" while Jewel and the Pistol Annies recut "You Were Meant for Me". The Greatest Hits album was released February 5, 2013.

In May 2013 Jewel served as ambassador for the ReThink: Why Housing Matters initiative. She was included in the initiative's public Service announcement (PSA) which asked Americans to rethink their views on public housing and consider how it benefits people in their own communities.

She went on to write an autobiography titled Chasing Down the Dawn in 2000, a collection of diary entries and musings detailing her life growing up in Alaska, her struggle to learn her craft and life on the road. On September 15, 2015, Jewel released a new memoir entitled Never Broken: Songs Are Only Half the Story.

In July 2016, Jewel appeared on ABC's Greatest Hits performing "You Were Meant For Me" with Tori Kelly.

On November 4, 2017, Jewel sang "Where the Turf Meets the Surf" before the running of the Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar racetrack.8