Jean-Marie Guéhenno is a former student of the École normale supérieure de la rue d'Ulm and is agrégé de Lettres modernes. He was an auditor at the Cour des Comptes after graduating from the École nationale d'administration (ENA) in 1976, then a referendary advisor and a Master Advisor.

Jean-Marie Guéhenno spent part of his career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he was successively member of the Centre d'analyse et de prévision, Cultural Counsellor of the French Embassy in the United States from 1982 to 1986, Head of the Centre d'analyse et de prévision from 1989 to 1993, and Permanent Representative of France to the Western European Union from 1993 to 1995.

He was President of the Institut des hautes études de défense nationale (IHEDN) in France from 1998 to 2000.

From 1999 to 2000, he was also a member of the United Nations Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters.

He was UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations from October 2000 to July 2008.

He is currently a professor at Columbia University (Arnold Saltzman Institute, School of International and Public Affairs- SIPA). He is also associated with the Brookings Institution and the Center on International Cooperation at New York University.

He has published numerous articles and two books, The End of The Nation State, and The Future of Freedom: Democracy in Globalization.