Yolen was born in New York City and raised in California, Virginia, New York and Connecticut. Her father was a journalist and publicist. She received her bachelor's degree from Smith College in 1960 and her master's degree in education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1976. She was married to computer scientist David Stemple from 1962 until his death from cancer on March 22, 2006. She has three children: Heidi Stemple, Adam Stemple, and Jason Stemple, and several grandchildren. Yolen maintains homes in Hatfield, Massachusetts and in St Andrews, Scotland.

Newsweek called Jane Yolen "the Hans Christian Andersen of America" and The New York Times labeled her "a modern equivalent of Aesop."

Her many short stories can be found in books as diverse as Am I Blue?: Coming out from the Silence and Briar Rose (The Fairy Tales Series). One example is "Memoirs of a Bottle Djinni" in Arabesques (edited by Susan Schwartz in 1988). Yolen also has a gift for the very short story, as evidenced by "Angelica" in 100 Great Fantasy Short-Short Stories. This latter anthology was edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg and Carr in 1985.

Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy for Teens, Favorite Folktales From Around the World, Xanadu and Xanadu 2 are among the works that she has edited.

Her writing also includes poetry. Yolen said that writing poems and short stories comes to her more naturally, but that she has tried to master the longer form when a particular story called for it. Many of her poems, like her books, have won awards. Some of her awards to date: the Caldecott Medal, two Nebula Awards, two Christopher Medals, the World Fantasy Award, three Mythopoeic Awards, both first and second place in the 2007 Dwarf Stars Award, the Golden Kite Award, the Jewish Book Award, the Association of Jewish Libraries Award, and the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement.

In the children's writing community, she is known for her pithy observations and her generosity toward beginning writers and illustrators. Yolen has also criticized the Harry Potter series:

Yolen has also criticized publishers for providing too much publicity for celebrity authors and not giving other beginning authors, such as talented students of hers, a chance.>

The Pit Dragon Trilogy

1. Dragon's Blood (1982)
2. Heart's Blood (1984)
3. A Sending of Dragons (1987)
4. Dragon's Heart (2009)

Selected novels and books

(She has written over 280)

• The Bird of Time (illustrated by Mercer Mayer) (1971)
• The Simple Prince (illustrated by Jack Kent) (1978)
• The Gift of Sarah Barker (1981)
• Children of the Wolf (1984)
• The Stone Silenus (1984)
• "Cards of Grief" (1985, Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature)
• Sister Light, Sister Dark (1989, Nebula Award finalist)
• The Dragon's Boy (1990)
• White Jenna (1990, Nebula Award finalist)
• Greyling (1991, picture book)
• Wings (1991, picture book)
• Wizard's Hall (1991)
• Briar Rose (1992, Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature, Nebula Award finalist)
• The One Armed Queen (1998)
• Armageddon Summer (1998, with Bruce Coville, ALA Best Book for Young Adults, ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers)
• Queen's Own Fool (2000, with Robert J. Harris)
• Girl in a Cage (2002, with Robert J. Harris)
• Sword of the Rightful King (2003, ALA Best Books 2004, ALA Best Books for Young Adults 2004, ALA Top 10 Fantasy Books for Youth 2004)
• Prince Across the Water (2004, with Robert J. Harris)
• The Young Merlin Trilogy: Passager, Hobby, and Merlin (2004)
• Pay the Piper: a rock and roll fairy tale (2005, with Adam Stemple)

Selected novellas and novelettes

• "The Devil's Arithmetic" (1988 novella, Nebula Award finalist; 1999, made into a movie starring Kirsten Dunst, Mimi Rogers and Brittany Murphy)
• "Lost Girls" (1998 novelette, Nebula Award winner)

Selected short stories

• "Boris Chernevsky's Hands" in Hecate's Cauldron (1982, edited by Susan Schwartz)
• "Angelica" in 100 Great Fantasy Short-Short Stories (1985, edited by Asimov, Greenberg and Carr)
• "The Ballad of the Quick Levars" in Liavek: The Players of Luck (1986, edited by Emma Bull and Will Shetterly)
• "Memoirs of a Bottle Djinni" in Arabesques (1988, edited by Susan Schwartz)
• "The True Tale of Count Dashif's Demise" in Liavek: Festival Week (1990, edited by Emma Bull and Will Shetterly)
• "Blood Sister" in Am I Blue?: Coming out from the Silence (1995, edited by Marion Dane Bauer)
• "Sister Emily's Lightship" in Starlight 1 (1996, edited by Patrick Nielsen Hayden; 1997 Nebula Award winner)

Selected poems

• "Tintagel Morning: Song" (Asimov's Science Fiction, v.14 #4, April 1990)
• "Angels Fly Because They Take Themselves Lightly" (Asimov's Science Fiction, v.15 #14, No.179, December 1991) (1991 Asimov's Readers' Award, poetry)
• "Will" (Broadside, Midsummer Night's Press; The Magazine of Speculative Poetry, Spring 1992) (1993 Rhysling Award winner)
• "Lies" (Paradox, Issue 8, Winter 2005-2006)
• "War Memorial: Edinburgh" (Paradox, Issue 8, Winter 2005-2006)
• "Fife Map" (Paradox, Issue 9, Summer 2006)
• "Suzy and Leah"

Short story anthologies edited by Jane Yolen

• Werewolves (1988, with Martin H. Greenberg)
• Xanadu (1992, with Martin H. Greenberg)
• Xanadu 2 (1993, with Martin H. Greenberg)
• Xanadu 3 (1994, with Martin H. Greenberg)
• 2041: Twelve Short Stories About the Future by Top Science Fiction Writers (1994, with Connie Willis and Anne McCaffrey)
• Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy for Teens (2005, with Patrick Nielsen Hayden)

Folklore collection edited by Jane Yolen

• Favorite Folktales From Around the World (winner of the World Fantasy Award)