His mother was an heiress to the Haviland porcelain dynasty and his brother-in-law was of the Delamain cognac dynasty. This informed his trilogy Les Destinées Sentimentales. He was a leader of the Hussards and held in high regard for the award-winning Claire.

He supported collaboration with the Vichy and in 1940 produced "Private Chronicle 1940", which favored the submission of Europe to Adolf Hitler. After World War II he was denounced for Nazi collaboration and spent time in prison. In an article titled Jacques Chardonne et Mein Kampf the "Frenchness" of his writing was also questioned.

He died in 1968 after efforts to restore his image. By the 1980s anti-totalitarian journalists like Raymond Aron began to reappraise collaborationist authors like Chardonne. In 1986 his award-winning "Claire" was made into a TV film and in 2001 Olivier Assayas adapted Les Destinées Sentimentales to film.