Born in Negotin, he finished gymnasium in his home town, after which he entered the Serbian Military Academy in Belgrade.

He was made commander of the 2nd Heavy Battery of Timok Valley on 17 April 1876, with which he participated in the First Serbian-Turkish War in 1876/77.

After three months, on 9 September, he was appointed chief of staff of Drina Corps and he remained on that function during operations in the Second Serbian-Turkish War.

On 25 August Jovan was appointed chief of the Internal Section of the Operative Division of the Main General Staff.

With the reconstruction of the Cabinet of Vladan Đorđević, after the death of Dragomir Vučković on 10 December 1899, he was named Minister of Defense until 12 July 1900.

After the May Coup (Serbia) which was carried out on 29 May 1903, in the Cabinet of Jovan Avakumović, from 29 May 1903 until 12 July 1903, he was reappointed Minister of Defense.

During the war in 1912, as reserve general, he was mobilized and made a delegate of the Serbian Government with King Nikola Petrović and the Montenegrin Supreme Command.

He was head of this organization until the end of 1918 when he turned over all the archival files to the International Federation of Red Cross, and he finally retired.