Kenneth Norman Jones was born, in Bundaberg in Queensland, on 17 April 1924. He received his primary and secondary education in Bundaberg. He attended the University of Queensland graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce.
 
In March 1941 he joined the Commonwealth Public Service as a Clerk in the Official Receiver's Office in Queensland. It is not known how long he remained in the Official Receiver's Office, however, his next documented appointment is as a research officer in the Department of Trade and Customs in 1949. Between 1951 and 1955 he served as a research officer in the Economic Policy Section and Cabinet Division of the Prime Minister's Department. In 1955 he was promoted to Deputy Assistant Secretary and, in 1959, Assistant Secretary of the Cabinet and Economic Divisions of the Prime Minister's Department.
 
His association with the education function began in 1964 when he became the First Assistant Secretary of the Education Division of the Prime Minister's Department. The creation of the Department of Education and Science in 1966 involved the transfer of his position to that Department. In 1973 he became Secretary of the Department of Education. He remained with the Department for a decade until his transfer, in March 1983, to the position of Secretary of the
Department of Administrative Services.
 
Jones remained Secretary of the Department of Administrative
Services, which was reconstituted and renamed the Department of Local Government and Administrative Services, until his retirement in 1986.
 
In October, 1986 Jones was appointed, by the Council of the
Australian War Memorial, to conduct an inquiry into the Australian War Memorial. The Inquiry was finalised in November, with its report submitted on 10 November.
 
In the New Year's Honours List for 1969 Mr Jones was created a Commander of the Civil Division of the Order of the British Empire. In 1981 he was made a Fellow of the Australian College of Education and the following year he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws by the University of Queensland. In 1986 he became an Officer of the Order of Australia.
 

Agency associated with person unregistered

      1965-       1974: Australian-American Educational Foundation -
                        Member, Board of Directors
1 Oct 1986-10 Nov 1986: Inquiry into the Australian War Memorial