Jérôme Epinette grew up in Burgundy, France, in a household where his mother sold fine fragrance in local boutiques. He initially trained in science, earning a master's degree in biochemistry in Dijon, before turning to scent full-time at the Grasse Institute of Perfumery, the training ground for many of France's working noses.

He joined the Paris office of the family-owned fragrance and flavor house Robertet in 2003, then helped open Robertet's New York Creative Center in 2006, where he has been based since. Within Robertet he rose to Vice President of Perfumery, building a client list that stretches from mass-market names like Victoria's Secret and L'Occitane en Provence to independent houses that gave him more creative latitude.

That latitude shows most clearly in his long-running partnership with Byredo, where he composed the majority of the line alongside founder Ben Gorham and, early on, Olivia Giacobetti — including widely worn releases such as Gypsy Water, Bal d'Afrique and Pulp. He has also been the perfumer behind Sol de Janeiro's gourmand Cheirosa line, much of Atelier Cologne's catalogue, and work for Vilhelm Parfumerie, Floral Street and Olfactive Studio, drawing on rose, sandalwood, patchouli, saffron and incense as recurring materials, alongside a self-described fondness for woods.

His work has been singled out twice by the Fragrance Foundation's Perfume Extraordinaire award — first for Byredo's Black Saffron in 2013, then for Atelier Cologne's Café Tuberosa (created with Sylvie Ganter) in 2018 — and Byredo's Tobacco Mandarin, another Epinette creation, won the Foundation's Universal Luxury Fragrance of the Year in 2021.