He was born and raised in Toronto, grew up in the Toronto Beach area (where he is still very much revered and a 'beacher' in perpetuity), attended Kew Beach Public School and Malvern Collegiate, both in the 'Beach' andVictoria College, in the University of Toronto. After serving in the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II, in the early 1950s he embarked on a trip through the southern United States, where he was appalled by the open racism and inequality. This experience gave him a lifelong concern with racial issues and discrimination that can be clearly seen in many of his films, including the acclaimed In the Heat of the Night.

In 1981, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and was promoted to Companion in 1991. In 1988, Jewison founded the Canadian Film Centre, an advanced film and television training institute located in Toronto, Ontario. He has been nominated for the best director Academy Award on a number of occasions, but has never won. In 1998, he was awarded The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, awarded periodically at the Academy Awards ceremonies to "Creative producers, whose bodies of work reflect a consistently high quality of motion picture production." For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Norman Jewison has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and has been inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame.

Despite much conjecture that Jewison was "forced out" of directing the movie Malcolm X, Spike Lee avows on the DVD's commentary that Jewison gracefully bowed out after Lee had argued his case in a meeting with both Jewison and producer Marvin Worth. Spike Lee has expressed his gratitude extensively, " He (Jewison) gracefully bowed out, which he didn't have to do. I will forever be grateful to him for that."

In 2004, Jewison published his autobiography, This Terrible Business Has Been Good to Me.

On November 26, 2004 his wife Margaret Ann "Dixie" Jewison died due to undisclosed causes a day after her 74th birthday in Orangeville, Ontario. She had been a source of inspiration for Jewison's film making career.

Despite his fame for directing the film version of Fiddler on the Roof and The Statement, as well as the appearance of his surname, Jewison is not Jewish. His religious background is British Protestant.