Jonas Roelens studied history at Ghent University. In 2018, he defended his dissertation there on sodomy in the Southern Netherlands. With this, he won both the jury and audience award of the Flemish PhD Cup in 2019, as well as the Erik Duverger Prize. This dissertation was published by BRILL in 2024 as Citizens and Sodomites. Persecution and Perception of Sodomy in the Southern Low Countries (1400-1700).

Roelens has published frequently on his research on deviant sexuality in (inter)national scholarly journals and is co-author of Verzwegen verlangen. A History of Homosexuality in Belgium (2017) and Middeleeuwse medemensen. De clichés over de duistere eeuwen voorbij (2023).

As a guest lecturer, he was previously affiliated with KU Leuven, Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Radboud University Nijmegen. He attaches great importance to scholarly communication and writes freelance for Openbaar Kunsttijdschrift Vlaanderen and De Standaard.