Pieter de Jode was born in Antwerp as the son of the prominent Dutch-born map maker Gerard de Jode. He received his initial training in the techniques of drawing and engraving from his father. He later studied with Hendrik Goltzius in Haarlem. In the early 1590s he was active in Amsterdam. He then travelled to Italy.
In Rome in the 1590s he made engravings after works by Titian, Giulio Romano and Jacopo Bassano. He also spent time in Venice. He travelled back home and in 1599 he became a master in the Guild of Saint Luke in Antwerp. In 1631 he travelled to Paris.
He was the teacher of his son Pieter de Jode II, Pieter de Bailliu, Johan Caspar Dooms, Pieter Perret and Nicolaes Ryckmans.