Jacob was born in Kortrijk into a family of painters. His father was Maerten Savery. Jacob probably apprenticed with the Flemish Mannerist painter Hans Bol as was reported by the early biographer Karel van Mander. As Anabaptists, the family Savery was forced to leave their native Flanders for fear of Spanish persecution c. 1580. Jacob Savery settled about 1584 in Haarlem and from there he moved to Amsterdam where in 1587 he joined the Guild of St Luke. In 1591 Jacob became a citizen of Amsterdam. He died of the plague in Amsterdam. The biographer Arnold Houbraken, who wrote a biography on his brother Roelant Savery (more famous because he was court painter at the imperial court in Prague), made a mistake when he wrote that Jacob was the father of Roelant and taught him to paint animals and fish, since Jacob was his older brother, not his father. He was the teacher of Joos Goeimare, his brother Roelant Savery, Frans de Grebber (then a promising young painter and tapestry worker in Haarlem) and Willem van Nieulandt II. His three sons also became artists: Hans Savery II (1589–1654) was active in Amsterdam and Utrecht, where he assisted and imitated his uncle Roelant, Jacob Savery II (1592–after 1651) was an animal painter and Salomon Savery (1594–1678) was a respected Amsterdam printmaker and publisher. Jacob Savery II's son, Jacob Savery III (1617–66), also became a printmaker and publisher. Jacob Saverys' daughter Maria was the mother of the painters Geertruyd Roghman, Roelant Roghman and Magdalena Roghman. Savery died in Amsterdam in 1603.