Jouret was born on 18 October 1947 in what was then the Belgian Congo, Africa. His Belgian parents returned to their homeland in the 1950s, and Jouret attended the Free University of Brussels from which he received his medical degree. During his college years he joined the Walloon Communist Youth, which resulted in the police placing him under surveillance. He graduated with his medical degree in 1974. Two years after graduation, in 1976, he joined the Belgian Army and became a paratrooper. While in the army he participated in the Battle of Kolwezi, a joint French and Belgian airborne operation which resulted in the liberation of hostages from the city of Kolwezi.