Born in Las Vegas, Jameson and her family moved around the country a great deal throughout her childhood. In her late teens, Jameson moved to Las Vegas to pursue a career as a dancer. She eventually got into nude modeling and from there made a transition into pornographic films. The gig paid well, and she began moving into more and more lucrative projects. Though she is now retired from pornography, Jameson still earns millions of dollars a year for her various entrepreneurial efforts, including her adult entertainment company ClubJenna.

Jenna has crossed over into mainstream pop culture with regular appearances on the Howard Stern Show, and voice over work on the show Family Guy. She also did voice-over work on the 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. In 2008, Jenna released a horror comic book with Virgin Comics called Jenna Jameson's Shadow Hunter.