Jonathan Overend grew up in Essex as a fan of Essex County Cricket Club and Arsenal F.C. He began volunteering at Hospital Radio Chelmsford as a teenager, then joined BBC Essex in 1989 while still studying for his A-levels.

In 1994, aged 21, he left his university studies to take a full-time job at BBC Essex, becoming the UK’s youngest full-time sports producer, before joining BBC Radio 5 Live’s Sportsroom in London in 1997.

Overend became the BBC’s main tennis reporter in 2002 and BBC Tennis Correspondent in 2003, commentating on over 50 tournaments. This included covering Roger Federer’s Grand Slam career and Andy Murray’s rise, climaxing with Murray’s 2013 Wimbledon title — his final match in the role. He then moved to presenting 5 Live Sport more broadly, plus football, cricket, and Olympic/Paralympic coverage.

Since 2020 he has worked as a freelance broadcaster across ITV, Amazon Prime Video, Times Radio, and other outlets, and became Sky Sports‘ lead tennis commentator from the 2023 US Open alongside Gigi Salmon. In a 2023 LinkedIn post, he described stepping back from full-time BBC tennis correspondent duties in 2013 partly to prioritise family while his children were young, and returning to a major touring commentary role now that his children are older.