Jeremy Smith was born in 1946 in Louth, England and moved to Canada in 1948. He took his Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts and French from the University of Western Ontario, graduating in 1969. He then studied Japanese brush technique in Tokyo from 1969-71. Exhibiting at the Mira Godard Gallery since 1972, Smith has become one of Canada's highly regarded contemporary realists. His work has been shown at the Albright Knox Gallery in Buffalo New York; Fischer Fine Arts in London, England; the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria in British Columbia; and the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton, New Brunswick among others. His work can also be found in many private and corporate collections; public collections include the Art Gallery of Ontario, the London Regional Art Gallery, and the Hamilton Art Gallery.

Jeremy Smith currently lives and works in Kitchener, Ontario.