He studied at the Llotja School and the Sant Jordi School of Fine Arts. Since his beginnings as a sculptor, Jaume Plensa has drawn on spirituality, the body, and collective memory as fundamental sources for his artistic expression. Literature, psychology, biology, language, and history become strategic tools in the creation of his works. Using a wide range of materials (steel, cast iron, resin, glass, water, and sound), Plensa provides physical weight and volume to the components of the human condition and the ephemeral.
Initially, his work reflects an interest in issues related to volume, space, and tension. In 1983–1984, he began molding iron using the casting technique and developed a sculptural concept of zoomorphic forms using cuts and folds. In 1986, he began working with cast iron, and later used glass, resin, light, and sound.
A versatile artist, Jaume Plensa has experimented equally with printmaking, drawing, sound, video, and even stage design. Since 1996, he has also dedicated himself to creating props and sets for opera and theater productions, primarily in collaboration with the company La Fura dels Baus. He is also a distinguished draftsman and printmaker. He has lived and worked in Germany, Great Britain, France, and the United States.
Following his first solo exhibition in 1980 at the Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona, ​​his work has been shown in museums around the world, including the Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume in Paris, France; the Lehmbruck Museum in Duisburg, Germany; the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, USA; the Espoo Museum of Modern Art in Helsinki, Finland; the Toledo Museum of Art in Toledo, USA; the Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain de Saint Étienne, France, and the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, USA.

A significant portion of his work consists of sculptures and installations specifically created for public spaces. Perhaps his best-known work is the Crown Fountain in Chicago, dating from 2004. His works can be seen in countries such as Great Britain, Japan, Germany, Sweden, Canada, the United States, Australia, Korea, and China.
He has received numerous national and international awards: the Medaille des Chevaliers des Arts et Lettres from the French Ministry of Culture in 1993; the Premi Nacional de Cultura d’Arts Plàstiques from the Generalitat de Catalunya in 1997; the National Prize for Plastic Arts in 2012; and the prestigious Velázquez Prize for the Arts in 2013, the latter two from the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sport.
He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the School of the Art Institute of the University of Chicago in 2005 and received the Global Fine Art Award in Miami in 2015 for Together, his participation in the Venice Biennale that same year.