Jenni Murray was born and educated in Barnsley, and has a degree in French and Drama from Hull University. She joined BBC Radio Bristol in 1973 and went on to report and present for BBC TV's South Today.

In 1983 she joined Newsnight. Two years later, she moved to Radio 4 as a presenter for the Today programme. She became the regular presenter of Woman's Hour in 1987.

Jenni writes regularly for various newspapers and magazines. She is also the author of several books including The Woman's Hour: A History of Women Since World War II and Is It Me or Is It Hot In Here: A Modern Woman's Guide to the Menopause; That's My Boy deals with raising sons and her latest book is Memoirs of a Not So Dutiful Daughter, which examines her relationship with her mother.

In 1998 Jenni was nominated Radio Broadcaster of the Year and in the Queen's Birthday Honours 1999 she was awarded an OBE for radio broadcasting. In 2007 she became a member of the Radio Academy Hall of Fame and was recently given a lifetime achievement award by the Media Society.