Venter made his debut for South Africa on 26 November 2000 in a Test against Wales in Cardiff, and went on to represent the Springboks 25 times.
After retiring from professional rugby, Venter up-skilled himself within the financial sector and worked with institutions like ABSA and Old Mutual.
AJ Venter was selected for the second-string squad for the away legs of the 2007 Tri Nations Series in Australia and New Zealand as almost 20 first team players were either rested or injured.
Venter is in a relationship with Danielle Oldfield, a holistic dietitian and keynote speaker from Durban, he also had two divorces in his early life.
[2] Venter has talked about going through a tough time in business post rugby and experiencing anxiety, he does a keynote on the lessons learned from these moments of hardship and runs a life skills program for school kids on how to navigate the challenging moments life throws at us.