Jürgen Freund was born in Dortmund, Germany. He studied mechanical engineering before discovering the camera and working as an industrial photographer for a turbine engine manufacturing company in Munich in 1987. Lured by the challenge of marine wildlife photography, he acquired an underwater camera even before he learned how to scuba-dive in 1981 in the cold lakes of Germany. Finally, he answered "the call of the sea" and became a full-time freelance marine photographer. For the last 15 years, Freund has traveled all over the world, taking acclaimed pictures and being published in magazines like Australian Geographic, BBC Wildlife Magazine UK, Esquire UK, Geo Germany, International Wildlife USA, Mare Germany, National Geographic World USA, Wildlife Conservation USA and many others.

He won his first accolade in 1992, when his photograph of a manatee topped the Underwater Photography category of the Nikon Photo Contest International. One of his prizes was a Nikon F4, and to this day, he uses the same camera to shoot his best images. He has since won several prizes in the BG Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition and the Festival Mondial De L'images Sous-Marine in Antibes, France. In 1999, he received a World Press Photo Award for his photograph of the Pamilacan whale shark hunters of Bohol in the Philippines. After years of wandering, Freund has finally found a home base in Australia migrating as Distinguished Talent and now lives in North Queensland with his wife, Stella. He works closely with World Wide Fund for Nature, and the organization has used his photographs in many of its conservation campaigns. This September, he will have an outdoor photo exhibit for a month in the city of Vannes in France in the 1st International Sea Pictures Festival. He also won "Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2003" in the category "World In Our Hands".