Jay Van Andel was born 3 June 1924 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Jay had been a high-school classmate of Rich DeVos and they partnered in several business ventures before founding Amway. Those businesses include a flying school, drive-in restaurant (the first in Grand Rapids), and the Ja-Ri Corporation, which sold vitamins and food supplements. They experimented with multi-level marketing and eventually applied this principle to Amway which was begun in 1959. In the beginning only one product was sold at Amway, a biodegradable household cleaner.

The company, now known as Alticor, has grown to 13,000 employees and millions of distributors. China now being its largest market. In the 70’s they were accused of being an illegal pyramid scheme and in 1975 the Federal Trade Commission ruled that it was not but ordered some changes in their practices.

In1995, Jay was succeeded as Chairman of Amway by his son, Steve. Rich DeVos had already handed over the reins of the Presidency to his son, Dick, in 1992. A new office of Chief Executive was created and Rich and Jay shared this position.

He was a supporter of the Republic Party contributing much to the presidential and state campaigns and a friend of former President Gerald Ford.

Van Andel was a member of and served on many boards including: Heritage Foundation, Hillsdale College, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In 1978 he and DeVos purchased the Pantlind Hotel and rebuilt it. When it was finished, it was reopened as the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel. He donated substantial funds to build the new Van Andel Museum Center, the Van Andel Arena and established the Van Andel Institute, which is devoted to medical research and education, building its head quarters in Grand Rapids and pledging most of his personal estate to it.

His wife, Betty Van Andel, died 18 January 2004, at the age of 82. She had Alzheimer’s and died at their home on Peter Island in the Caribbean.

Van Andel was a member of the Christian Reformed Church and an interest in Christian causes, funding many religious ventures, including a research station in Arizona that sought to establish scientific support for the theory of Creationism.

His philosophy, "For me, the greatest pleasure comes from creating wealth and giving it away, not from the endless acquisition of material things."