Jonar fired his first pistol at the age of six. He experienced the kickback of a double-barrel shotgun at seven. By ten, he was handling machine-guns that stood taller than himself. He has lived in the thick of a bloody battle on the streets of Beirut where he tasted war and all its horrors - bodies in the street; cities alight; snipers at every turn; food and fuel shortages; panic and looting; funerals for bosom buddies; and the sight of battered young men who were rescued from torture chambers.

Having seen his country destroyed by ruthless enemies, Jonar was forced to forfeit his childhood. Fast-tracked into adulthood, he has first-hand knowledge of warfare, terrorism, massacres, religious unrest, ethnic cleansing, and sheer, unadulterated stupidity born of revenge, hatred, and greed. For him, sorrow, anger, fear, and confusion are more than mere words.

This experience led Jonar to leave school at the age of fourteen. He studied part-time while pursuing a corporate career. Having worked in the fields of sales and marketing for over 25 years, Jonar's last corporate role was that of IBM's E-business Software Manager and the industry spokesman for deep-computing and high-technology. Previously he was IBM's Consumer Manager for Asia Pacific South.

Before joining IBM, Jonar was the Sales & Marketing Director at Acer Computer, where he also headed Acer Software Pty Ltd. Prior to that, he held senior marketing positions at Compaq, including roles as Manager of Communications, Distribution, Education, and Retail.

Today, Jonar is an author, journalist, lecturer, philosopher, futurist, consultant, and a corporate and social warrior. He is dedicated to teaching others how to live a zestful and enchanting life. He urges people to say what needs to be said, to fight for what needs to be won, and to do what must be done, even if they have to lose friends and infuriate people.

Apart from his work in the areas of marketing, technology, and leadership, Jonar is a commentator on the subjects of politics, war, religion, and civil unrest.

He was the co-founder of the New Leaders Foundation funded by Johnson & Johnson, McKinsey & Company, and Qantas Airways. Seminars have been held at the Royal Military College, Duntroon, and the University of New South Wales.

Apart from writing Z, Jonar is the author of How to Lose Friends and Infuriate People (now in its Fourth Edition), How to Lose Friends and Infuriate Your Boss, and How to Lose Friends and Infuriate Thinkers.
He is also the author of Prentice Hall's Illustrated Dictionary of Computing (now in its Third Edition), and the technology writer for Butterworths' Legal Dictionary, and the Concise Legal Dictionary.

With his intimate understanding of technology and society, he is called upon to serve as an 'expert witness' to the legal profession. As a member of the Information Technology Sub-committee for Standards Australia, Jonar helped to write standards for Software Development and System Documentation. He also co-founded the Australian Information Technology Society, where he served for six years.

Jonar was a director of Australia's largest private adult education institution. He now advises many Chairmen and Chairwomen and CEOs at board-level, and he is an executive coach and/or mentor who assists with technical, professional, market, or personal advice. He is now the Chairman of Logictivity, and a Director of Plutonium, and a Director of the Sydney College of Divinity.