Jarman made his debut with North Adelaide in 1983 at 17 years of age, and quickly established himself as an elite player with superb skills especially when disposing by handball.
He capped a superb 1987 season with his first Magarey Medal, and played a key role in North Adelaide's premiership victory against Glenelg.
After being one of a number of older players de-listed by the Crows and their new coach Malcolm Blight before the 1997 AFL season, Jarman returned to the SANFL in 1997 for Norwood.
In 2001 Jarman was named in the centre position of the North Adelaide Football Club Team of the Century[3] and awarded Life Membership in 2006.
[6] Jarman's patience was rewarded when Adelaide entered the League, now known as the AFL, and he became one of the first players signed by coach Graham Cornes.
When the late withdrawal of Matt Collins opened up a place in the side, he declined to join the team in Melbourne and instead played for Norwood.
The club's decision not to sack him outright took into account his five-and-a-half years of service, 100-plus games and the recent awarding of life membership.
Jarman was a big supporter of State of Origin, and spoke passionately about South Australia's rivalry with Victoria, quoted as saying "it was the Mother of all battles".
In October 2008, Jarman was appointed senior coach of Perth in the Western Australian Football League (WAFL), replacing Simon Eastaugh.
Jarman is now the A grade coach of Port Noarlunga Football Club In September 2012, Jarman called for a wide-ranging review of the SANFL in the face of falling crowd numbers, the SANFL on the verge of selling its two AFL licenses and searching for a new football general manager.
[14] He also called for a return to an attacking style of football, citing the negative, defensive style of play in the low scoring semi-final between Norwood and West Adelaide as damaging to the brand of South Australian football: From an outsider looking in, I thought it hurt the integrity of our competition because it's about entertainment.