Jeram Patel was born in 1930 at Sojitra in the Kaira district of Gujarat. He studied drawing and painting at Sir JJ School of Art, Mumbai between 1950 and 55, and typography and publicity design at Central School of Arts and Craft, London for two years till 1959.

Jeram Patel was one of the artists who turned around the Indian art scene and formulated a new visual identity and method of abstraction in the late 1950's and 60's. Alongside NS Bendre and Sankho Chowdhuri who set up the Baroda School of Art, Patel, with artists like Jagdish Swaminathan, initiated one of the greatest changes in Indian art as a founder member of the short-lived artists' collective Group 1890.

Patel has held one-man shows in London, New Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai and has represented India at the Tokyo Biennale of 1963, the Sao Paulo Biennale of 1963, the Third World Biennale at Baghdad in 1980 and the Festival of India, London, in 1982. His works are featured in many prestigious collections including those at the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, the Museum of Chennai Art, Baghdad, Chandigarh University, the Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, the Society of India, the Museum of Fine Arts in Bhopal and the Dhoomimal Gallery in New Delhi.

Patel has been associated with various organizations including the Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, the Gujarat State Lalit Kala Akademi, the Royal Society of Arts, London, the School of Architecture, Ahmedabad and the Weavers' Service Centre, All-India Handloom Board, New Delhi. He was till recent working as a professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda University. Jeram Patel has been a recipient of the National Award from the Lalit Kala Akademi in 1957, 1963, 1973 and 1984 and National Award for Design in 1976. He has also won a silver medal from the Bombay Art Society in 1960. In 1994 he was awarded Emeritus Fellowship from The Govt. of India.

The artist passed away in 2016.