Born in Aldershot, he is known for his socialist politics coupled with a very English delivery. Hardy won the Perrier Comedy Award in 1988 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He is best known for his radio work, particularly on The News Quiz and his long running series Jeremy Hardy Speaks to the Nation. He has featured prominently in a film: Jeremy Hardy vs the Israeli Army (2003). He made his television debut in the late 1980s in various comedy shows including Blackadder Goes Forth (1989), and has also presented a television documentary about the political background to the English Civil War.

To BBC Radio 4 audiences Jeremy Hardy is also famous for his incredibly off-key singing, as showcased in I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, and for the socialist rants, in which he loses himself, on the News Quiz.

He used to write a regular column for The Guardian but was fired, allegedly for supporting the Socialist Alliance in his columns.

His outspoken support for the release of Danny McNamee, who was wrongly convicted in 1987 of involvement in the Irish Republican Army's Hyde Park bombing of 1982, led to accusations (which were later retracted) that he was an IRA supporter. However, Jeremy Hardy has always made clear that he supported Danny McNamee (whose conviction was overturned in 1998, and who himself has consistently denied any sympathy for the IRA) as the victim of a miscarriage of justice.

He was married to American-born actress and comedienne Kit Hollerbach, who featured alongside him in the Radio sitcoms At Home with the Hardys and Unnatural Acts . They are now separated.

In September 2004, on Jeremy Hardy Speaks to the Nation on BBC Radio 4, Hardy stated that "All BNP members and supporters should be shot in the back of the head", sparking complaints and causing Burnley council to cancel a show scheduled on their premises due to fears that it could be disruptive in a town that has a history of racial tension .