Holder of bachelor's degrees in philosophy and history and a master's in geography from Université Laval (Québec) - on the Small Antilles (Windward Islands) - Jean Morisset did his Ph.D. at the University of Liverpool (United Kingdom) - on the Titicaca region (Southern Peru). He has taught at the University of Victoria (British Columbia), Université Laval and Université de Montréal, and is currently professor in the Département de Géographie at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). 

It was at the beginning of the 1960s that he first went to the High Arctic, in the service of the Canadian Coast Guard.  From 1963 to 1968, he took part in a major study covering the whole of the Northwest Territories - the Area Economic Surveys. In the course of these activities he covered virtually the entire Canadian North, from Ellesmere Island to the Beaufort Sea, by plane, dog-sleigh, canoe and on foot, through tundra and taïga, and this at a critical period in the history of the North. 

In 1977 he was appointed to the Alaska Highway Pipeline Enquiry and in the same time published a book entitled Les chiens s'entre-dévorent÷ Indiens, Blancs et Métis dans le Grand Nord canadien (Montréal, Nouvelle Optique).  It was during this period that he worked for a variety of native people's associations (Yukon, Newfoundland, Québec-Labrador, Manitoba, Saskatchewan) while at the same time being involved in several environmental impact studies of the proposed hydro-electric power projects  in Nouveau-Québec and pipeline projects in the Mackenzie River bassin.

It is, in large part, the experience of this period which he seeks to express in articles, poetry and short stories that are midway between observation and fiction.  A collection of these writings, graced with a preface by Kenneth White, entitled L'Homme de Glace.  Navigations et autres géographies has been published by Éditions du Cidihca (Montréal), in 1995, while another book, La Grande Rivière de Canada, is planned  at Leméac/Actes Sud (Montréal/Paris). 

Solicited during this period by Radio-Canada public affairs programmes to comment on the evolution of native and northern affairs issues in the context of the various constitutional reforms put forward, Jean Morisset has published more than 50 articles on the subject. It is this experience indeed that has led him to write a major reflection on Canada, with the title L'Identité usurpée, the first volume of which, L'Amérique écartée, was published by Nouvelle Optique (Montréal) in 1985.  This manuscript was never published in its entirety however and is actually being revised with a view to being published by the Éditions de l'Hexagone (Montréal) in two parts respectively entitled La Rédemption nordique and L'Exil géographique. He also published in 1986, in collaboration with Rose-Marie Pelletier, a book entitled Ted Trindell: Métis Witness to the North (Pulp Press, Vancouver).

All the while Jean Morisset has continued to work in Latin America with a view to resituating the history and the evolution of Canada and of French America in the context of their panamerican fate and destiny. Specifically, he directed his studies to Francophony and its relations with Latin American countries, notably Brazil and the Caribbean, making annual visits and field trips to the former as of 1982.  He is presently immersed in some creative writing inspired by Brazil and Guyane, bearing the title Voyage superficiel et anodin faict en Terres de Brésil et en France Équinoxciale - Essai de voyage 1986-1989.  Closely involved in relations between Québec and Haïti, and invited to attend the investiture of Président Aristide, he has completed a volume entitled Haïti Délibérée / Québec Masqué - Essai-Témoignage 

Pursuing his literary travels under the title Les mots de l'hiver: voyage exploratoire à travers l'Extrême-Amérique and having inscribed it as his contribution to the 500th anniversary (and after) of the «discovery» and the «dissimulation» of the New World, Jean Morisset embarked, in 1992, on a joint reflection on La Francophonie océane (Caribbean, Pacific and, eventually, Indian Oceans). 

Jean Morisset has worked on film scenarios, including a National Film Board of Canada project that is currently underway, «La Nation Métisse» [or «The Métis Spirit»].  Finally, he has recently participated, as a senior researcher, to research projects and advisory boards for the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. 
At the 12th, 13th and 15th Concours de la meilleure nouvelle de langue française, under the patronage of Radio-France International and the Office de Coopération Culturelle et Technique, his texts Atouah,  Namounaï and Veni, Créator Spiritus were among the 15 finalists, out of some 2800 submissions .

He is a member of the Association Brésilienne de littérature comparée (Rio), the Groupe de recherche sur la littérature de voyage (Paris), the Institut International de Géopoétique (Trébeurden, France), the board of directors of the Cidihca (Montréal) and the co-founder of Portage - Institut de Géopoétique du Monde-Nouveau (Montréal/Port-au-Prince).