Jad El-Hage has published and has had his work performed in Arabic and English. He obtained a Diploma in Accountancy from the International College in Beirut in 1965 and then studied literature and theatre at the Lebanese and American universities in Beirut from 1965 to 1967. From 1967 he worked as a reporter and correspondent for Lebanese newspapers, first in Beirut and then later in Paris and London. In London, from 1979 to 1981, he worked for the BBC. From 1982 to 1985 he worked as a senior editor for an international publishing firm in Athens. He also wrote theatre and cinema reviews and annually covered the Cannes Film Festival, the Venice Mostra, the Edinburgh Festival and the Carthage Theatre and Cinema Festival in Tunis from 1977. He has read his work and given public lectures at universities and colleges in Beirut, Paris, Baghdad, London, Sydney and Melbourne.

El Hage now divides his time between Australia and Lebanon, residing in each country for a part of each year. His novel One Day in April (2011) completes a trilogy of novels set during Lebanon's civil war (1975-1990).