Chernin was born in Harrison, New York, the son of Mary (née Townsend) and Herbert Chernin. Chernin, whose father was Jewish, was raised Unitarian. He earned a B.A. in English literature from the University of California, Berkeley. Chernin married Megan (née Brody) in 1980, and they have three children: David (b. 1981), John (b. 1983), and Margaret (b. 1987).

Widely considered one of the most powerful media executives in the world, Chernin joined Fox in 1989 from Lorimar Film Entertainment, where he served as President and chief operating officer. Earlier, he served as executive vice President of programming and marketing for Showtime/The Movie Channel. Prior to Showtime, Chernin was vice President of Development and Production at the David Gerber Company. He began his career in publishing, first as associate publicity Director of St. Martin's Press and later as an Editor for Warner Books.

Prior to starting TCG, Chernin served as President and chief operating officer of News Corporation from 1996-2009. As President and COO of one of the world's largest media companies, he oversaw Diversified global operations spanning five continents, including the production and distribution of film and television programming; television, satellite and cable broadcasting and News Corp.'s aggressive expansion into the digital media and internet space.

Chernin is chairman of The Chernin Group (TCG), which he founded in 2009 after leaving News Corp.

TCG launched CA Media in November 2010, which aims to strategically build, manage, and operate media, entertainment, and Technology businesses in Asia. In July 2011, CA Media invested in the Hong Kong-based mixed martial arts promoter Legend Fighting Championship. In April 2012, CA Media acquired a 49 percent stake in Endemol India with the goal of making it the leading TV, film and digital content production company in India. At the same time CA Media also invested in Only Much Louder, a music, live events and youth media company in India. In April 2014, AT&T partnered with The Chernin Group to invest $500 million in online video services.

TCG's entertainment production company, Chernin Entertainment, produces television programs and feature films. Its current television slate includes Fox's New Girl, and Touch and Ben and Kate. The company's first feature film Rise of the Planet of the Apes, was released in August 2011. and has grossed more than $480 million at the worldwide box office. Chernin Entertainment produced Parental Guidance, a comedy starring Billy Crystal and Bette Midler, which was released in December 2012, the sci-fi thriller from Joseph Kosinski, Oblivion, starring Tom Cruise, and The Heat, starring Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock.

On December 2, 2013, TCG announced that they had acquired the anime streaming site Crunchyroll in an effort to expand their online video assets. The acquisition was rumoured to priced at around $100 million.

On January 7, 2016 it was announced by David Portnoy in a video that Chernin Media was acquiring a majority stake in the popular website Barstool Sports and moving the headquarters to New York City.

TCG’s current assets include Chernin Entertainment, an entertainment production company; a majority stake in CA Media, an Asia-based media investment company; and several strategic Investments in U.S. based Technology and media companies including Pandora, Fullscreen, Tumblr, Barstool Sports, and Flipboard.