Born in Ghent, Rogge competed in yachting in the 1968, 1972 and 1976 Summer Olympics, and played on the Belgian rugby team. Rogge served as president of the Belgian Olympic Committee from 1989 to 1992, and as president of the European Olympic Committees from 1989 to 2001. He became a member of the IOC in 1991 and joined the Executive Board in 1998.

Rogge was elected as president of the IOC on July 16, 2001 at the IOC session in Moscow as the successor to Juan Antonio Samaranch, who had led the IOC since 1980.

One of the core points of his IOC policy has been to limit the number of participants in the Summer Olympics to its current size of about 10,000. He has said that he will show no tolerance toward corruption and doping.

Jacques Rogge was knighted and given the title of count by the Belgian King Albert II.

|- style="text-align: center;" | width="30%" |Preceded by:
Raoul Mollet | width="40%" style="text-align: center;" |President of the Belgian Olympic Commietee (BOIC)
1989–1992 | width="30%" |Succeeded by:
Adrien Vanden Eede