His father was Raymond Douglas Jamieson (1906–1982), who was later the chief judge of the Arbitration Court.
This was followed by a period as the professional head of the RNZAF, the Chief of the Air Staff from 1979 to 1983 and a period as New Zealand's most senior military appointment, the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) until his retirement in 1986.
During his time as CDS, Jamieson tried to avoid a controversy with the United States over the then Labour government's decision to ban nuclear vessels from visiting New Zealand and preserve the ANZUS defence treaty.
[5] In 1977, Jamieson was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal.
[7] He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1967 Queen's Birthday Honours,[8] and promoted to Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1986 New Year Honours.