As an entrepreneur, de Venecia pioneered overseas contract work for Filipinos where he was one of the first Philippine prime contractors in the Middle East and North Africa in the mid-1970s.

He hired 51,000 Filipinos for his companies and engaged in port operations in Saudi Arabia, agriculture in Africa, and mass housing and oil exploration in the United Arab Emirates.

As Ramos' peace envoy, Speaker De Venecia reached out to insurgent groups Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) secessionists in Mindanao, the RAM-SFP-YOU military rebels, and the Communist Party of the Philippines which operates the New People's Army (NPA).

He crossed Africa's Sahara Desert twice to meet the Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi and MNLF Chairman Nur Misuari and assisted in forging a peace agreement at Tripoli in 1976.

In April 1997, De Venecia journeyed to the Netherlands to meet with self-exiled leaders of the National Democratic Front and New People's Army led by Jose Maria Sison and Luis Jalandoni.

He was the first Christian leader to enter Mindanao's Camp Abubakar mountains in November 1997 and open breakthrough peace negotiations with Hashim Salamat, Chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and military Commander Murad.

In 1998, the dominant party Lakas-NUCD-UMDP held a convention to select Ramos' successor as titular president and candidate for the May 11 election.

De Venecia garnered the second highest number of votes in a field of 11 candidates, though he was far behind the winner, Joseph Estrada.

De Venecia reemerged on New Year's Day of 2001 calling for a smooth transition of power to the Vice President.

Estrada belittled de Venecia's statements, however, the former was ousted January 20 of that year by a four-day people power uprising.

In 2003, he received an unexpected high commendation from the public when he accepted the Supreme Court ruling that junked the petition for the impeachment of the Chief Justice.

On July 10, 2007, De Venecia's supporters opposed secret balloting by the majority coalition to select the speaker of the House of Representatives in the Fourteenth Congress.

[4] [5] On January 31, 2008, Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (KAMPI) announced that 134 congressmen signed a manifesto of "loss of confidence" versus Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. Camarines Sur's 2nd district Rep. Luis Villafuerte, KAMPI president, said the successor should be Davao City's 1st district representative Prospero Nograles.

[2] During the regular session on February 4, 2008, Palawan Representative Abraham Kahlil Mitra moved that the position of House Speaker be declared vacant.

[3] Before the motion was submitted to a vote, De Venecia delivered a speech before the House where he criticized President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and alleged that her government was behind the move to oust him from the speakership.

The speech was delivered hours after Palawan's 2nd district Rep. Abraham Kahlil Mitra, an ally of Davao City Rep. Prospero Nograles, moved the speaker's position be declared vacant.

"[7] In April 2017, De Venecia was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte as Special Envoy for Inter-Cultural Dialogue.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said that as special envoy, De Venecia would serve to advise the administration on policies regarding cultural diversity and citizen participation under the UNESCO declaration.

[10] De Venecia married Victoria Perez, the daughter of Eugenio Pérez, who served as Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1946 to 1953.

On December 17, 2004, a fire originating from Christmas tree lights gutted de Venecia's house in Dasmariñas Village, Makati.

In January 2025, Speaker Martin Romualdez led the opening ceremony of the "Jose de Venecia Jr. Building and Museum" at the Batasang Pambansa Complex.