Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang was born on 22 November 1951 in Cape Coast, Ghana. She attended Anglican Girls' Secondary School at Koforidua and Aburi Presby Girls' School.

She then had her secondary education at the Wesley Girls’ High School in Cape Coast from 1964 to 1971. She completed B.Ed. (Hons) in English and French at the University of Cape Coast in 1977 and obtained her Master’s and Doctorate degrees from York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1980 and 1986 respectively.

She is a politician and educationalist who served as the Minister for Education in Ghana. She was appointed in 2013 by President John Mahama after the 2012 Ghanaian general election and served until January 2017 when President-elect Akufo Addo was sworn into office.

Professor Opoku-Agyemang, former Vice-Chancellor of University of Cape Coast (UCC), Ghana, was the first female Vice-Chancellor of the institution. She assumed duty on 1 October 2008, succeeding Emmanuel Addow-Obeng.

In July of 2020, she was chosen as the running mate of the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama.