Beate Jensen war born in Kiel where she also grew up. She attended drama school at Hochschule der Künste in Hamburg.

After an engagement at Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg she played her first leading role in a movie in "Mitten ins Herz" ("Straight Through The Heart"), directed by Doris Dörrie. She won the award for an "Outstanding artistic performance" and the audience award at the film festival Max Ophuels Preis for her performance in this role. Jensen then starred in the Italian film "Lange Wintertage", directed by Ivo B. Micheli, in the Swiss film "Konzert für Alice" ("Concert for Alice"), directed by Thomas Koerfer, and in the British-German co-production "Chinese Boxes", directed by Chris Petit (all 1984). In 1988, she was seen in the German-French psycho-thriller "Der Kuss des Tigers" ("The Kiss of the Tiger"), directed by Petra Haffter.

Beate Jensen also appeared in numerous TV productions, for instance, in "Tatort - In flagranti" (1997), again directed by Petra Haffter. Her most recent appearance on the movie screen was in the much-noticed "Die Liebenden des Polarkreises" ("The Lovers of the Arctic Circle", 1997), by the Spanish director Julio Medem.

Time and again, Jensen also appeared in radio plays and audio books, for instance, in "Die Form des Wassers" by Abdrea Camilleri and in "Mein verwundetes Herz" by Martin Doerry.

Beate Jensen is a member of the European Film Academy (EFA) and of Deutsche Filmakademie (DFA). From 2002 to 2006, Jensen was a member of the admission committee of Berlinale"s children"s film festival and 14plus series. Since 2005, she is a guest professor at HFF Konrad Wolf in Potsdam-Babelsberg. In 2006, she served as a guest lecturer at Ludwigburg"s Filmakademie. Beate Jensen has two children and lives with her family in Berlin.