As a student of Aline Van Barentzen, Vlado Perlemuter, Pierre Sancan, and Jean Hubeau at the Paris Conservatory, Jacques Rouvier obtained his diploma (1er Prix) in piano (1965) and chamber music (1967), and completed his training in the harmony and orchestral conducting departments.

After studying with Jean Fassina, he went on to win numerous prizes in international competitions (Viotti in Vercelli, Maria Canals in Barcelona, Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud, EBU). He received a grant from the Fondation de la Vocation which made it possible for him to found a trio in 1970 with Jean-Jacques Kantorow and Philippe Muller, with whom he still performs today. He was appointed professor of piano at the Paris Conservatory in 1979, where he has trained young artists who have gone on to have brilliant careers, such as H. Grimaud, C.-M. Leguay, F. Braley, P. Giusiano, Y. Yokoyama, D. Fray, A. Volodos...

He now often sits on juries for international piano competitions (M. Long-J. Thibaud, Montreal, Dublin, Tchaikovsky-Moscow) and conducts masterclasses around the world (International Music Academy in Prades, Ravel Academy in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Nice, Les Arcs, Courchevel, Madrid, Amsterdam, Dresden, Berlin, Cleveland, Montreal, Vancouver, Tokyo, Hamamatsu Music Session, Elizabeth College in Hiroshima, and many more).

Jacques Rouvier has recorded over fifty albums, among them the complete works of Ravel (two Grands Prix du Disque, for piano and chamber music) and that of Debussy.