Butland was born in Southmead, Bristol, and raised in nearby Clevedon where he attended Yeo Moor Primary School and Clevedon Community School. After playing for Clevedon United and the Bristol-based Jamie Shore Academy, he joined Birmingham City as a schoolboy in 2007 and began a two-year scholarship in the club’s youth academy when he left school in 2009. During his time at school Butland was a keen rugby player. While still aged 16, Butland made his reserve-team debut, and he signed his first professional contract, of two-and-a-half years, as soon as he turned 17 in March 2010. Named Birmingham City’s Young Player of the Year at the end of the 2009–10 season, his progress was interrupted in October 2010 by a broken hand requiring surgery. By the following April he had recovered well enough to be given a first-team squad number before the Premier League match against Wolverhampton Wanderers as cover, in case Ben Foster’s injury or Colin Doyle’s illness prevented either from taking part in the match.

Butland made his international debut on 3 October 2008, keeping a clean sheet as the England under-16 team beat their Northern Ireland counterparts 6–0 in a Victory Shield match.

He moved up to the under-17s in 2009, and the following year took over as first-choice goalkeeper during the final stages of the European under-17 championships, playing in the final as England defeated Spain under-17s to win the title for the first time. His performances earned him selection as one of two goalkeepers in the 22-man team of the tournament. Butland was part of the under-19 squad that reached the elite qualification round of the 2011 UEFA under-19 championships, but needing to beat Spain under-19s in their last group match, were eliminated at that stage on goal difference after the match ended 1–1.

Soon after Butland made his England under-21 debut in September 2011, he joined League Two club Cheltenham Town on loan for a month to gain experience of first-team football. He went straight into the starting eleven to make his Football League debut at home to Macclesfield Town on 10 September 2011, displacing Scott Brown who had until then made 107 consecutive starts for the club. Butland had little to do as Cheltenham won the match 2–0. While still out on loan, Butland signed a new contract with Birmingham to expire in June 2015. The initial month was later extended by a further two months, to begin after his return from under-21 duty in mid-October. Butland was short-listed for November’s League Two Player of the Month award, and finished his loan spell with seven clean sheets from his twelve appearances. Cheltenham teammate Steve Elliot suggested that Butland had “everything he needs to play at the very top level”, and where some players lack the attitude required to succeed, “Jack’s head is screwed on, he knows what he wants and what he has to do to get there.”

He made his debut for the England under-21 team on 1 September 2011 in the starting eleven for the 2013 European qualifier against Azerbaijan under-21. Although England won by an apparently comfortable six-goal margin, Butland had to be alert to ensure his clean sheet. He kept his place for the next two qualification matches, wins against Iceland and Norway under-21. With Butland as first-choice goalkeeper for the European finals in Israel, England lost all three of their group matches, against Italy under-21, Norway and Israel, so were eliminated at the first opportunity. He said afterwards that the players were embarrassed at failing to do themselves justice.

In February 2012, Butland rejoined Cheltenham on a youth loan until the end of the season. He went straight into the starting eleven, and kept a clean sheet against AFC Wimbledon to help maintain Cheltenham in the automatic promotion positions. After Birmingham’s first-choice goalkeeper, Boaz Myhill, injured a thumb, Butland was recalled by his parent club with three matches remaining in the regular season. Over his two spells with Cheltenham, he conceded 26 goals from 24 League Two appearances, and was regularly scouted by bigger clubs; the Daily Telegraph reported that “no fewer than 52 scouts” had watched him at one match.

Butland signed a four-and-a-half-year contract with Premier League club Stoke City on 31 January 2013. As part of the deal, he returned to Birmingham City on loan for the remainder of the season. According to Stoke, the fee was an initial £3.3 million, rising to £3.5 million. On his return to Stoke for the 2013–14 season, he found himself third choice behind Asmir Begović and Thomas Sørensen, and on 26 September, he joined Championship club Barnsley on a three-month emergency loan. With Barnsley’s only other fit goalkeeper an inexperienced 19-year-old, Butland went straight into the starting eleven for their next match, a 2–1 defeat at Leicester City in which he brought down Jamie Vardy to concede a penalty and was perhaps fortunate to receive only a yellow card. Butland made 13 appearances for Barnsley before being recalled by Stoke on 26 December 2013 after Asmir Begović suffered an injury. On 1 January 2014, Butland made his Premier League debut for the Potters, replacing injured keeper Thomas Sørensen at half time against Everton; the match ended as a 1–1 draw. Butland made his first league start on 12 January 2014 against Liverpool which ended in a 5–3 defeat.

On 20 February 2014, Butland joined Championship club Leeds United for the remainder of the 2013–14 season. Stoke manager Mark Hughes believed the move was important for Butland to gain more first-team experience stating that “this opportunity to go to Leeds, where they have a big fanbase and big expectations will be another good step for him.” With injury to Leeds’ first-choice keeper Paddy Kenny, Butland went straight into the first team, made his debut in a 0–0 draw with Middlesbrough, and was named man of the match. Butland had a tough time with Leeds: he conceded 28 goals in 16 appearances as the team finished in 15th position.

On 20 October 2014 Butland joined Derby County on a one-month loan. He played six times for the Rams before returning to Stoke. Butland became back-up to Asmir Begović in the 2014–15 campaign, playing in League Cup and FA Cup matches, and in March 2015 his contract was extended until the summer of 2019. Butland played in three matches in May 2015, keeping clean sheets against Tottenham Hotspur and Burnley.

In January 2014, Butland had his car, an Audi RS5, stolen from his house in Walsall. In December 2015, Butland donated £5,000 to the Great Britain women’s deaf football team, to go towards funding for their trip to the 2015 Deaf World Cup.

Following the sale of Begović, Butland was handed the number one shirt by Mark Hughes ahead of the 2015–16 season. Butland impressed in a 1–1 draw with Norwich City on 22 August 2015. On 27 October, in the fourth round of the League Cup, he saved from Eden Hazard as Stoke defeated Chelsea in a penalty shootout after a 1–1 draw. Four days later, Butland was widely praised for another man of the match display as Stoke drew 0–0 with Newcastle United. In March 2016 Butland’s contract with the Potters was extended until the summer of 2021. He was ever-present until 26 March, when he suffered a fractured ankle whilst playing for England against Germany, ruling him out for the remainder of the season. Butland made 35 appearances for Stoke in 2015–16 and his performances earned him the club’s player of the year award.

On 12 October 2015, he was handed his second cap and his first competitive international appearance, away to Lithuania at the end of UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying, with England already assured of their place in the tournament. He kept a clean sheet in the 3–0 win in Vilnius, which meant that England’s qualification campaign consisted entirely of victories. During the following match, on 26 March, he suffered a fractured ankle after conceding in a friendly away to Germany, ruling him out of the Euros.

Butland returned from injury in time for the 2016–17 pre-season. However, he missed the opening matches of the season and underwent further surgery on his ankle in September 2016 and again in December 2016, when Hughes revealed the player might miss the rest of the season. He was eventually given the green light to return to training by a specialist in March 2017. He made his return from injury on 22 April against Swansea City. Butland played in the final five matches of the 2016–17 season, keeping two clean sheets as Stoke finished in 13th position. Butland played 36 times in 2017–18 as Stoke were relegated to the Championship. Following relegation, Butland criticised the club’s transfer policy, branding it “farcical”.

Butland remained with Stoke in the Championship in the 2018–19 season. He played 45 times, missing a league match only once, after the birth of his son, and kept 18 clean sheets, the third best in the Championship behind Dean Henderson and Darren Randolph. He was named as player of the season by supporters. Butland began the 2019–20 season in poor form, making several mistakes most notably against Preston North End on 21 August 2019. He was replaced by Adam Federici for the next two league matches, re-taking his place at the start of September. He made another mistake against Nottingham Forest on 27 September 2019 and didn’t play again under Nathan Jones. He was reinstated by new manager Michael O’Neill and he worked with a new goalkeeping coach, David Rouse which helped him regain some of his form. The season was suspended in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and during the lockdown Butland participated in a scheme making phone calls to vulnerable supporters. The season returned in the summer and Butland sustained a neck injury against Leeds on 9 July, with Adam Davies taking his place for the remainder of the season as Stoke finished in 15th.

Butland is engaged to Annabel Peyton; their first child, a son, was born in 2019.

Butland signed for Premier League club Crystal Palace on 16 October 2020 on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee, reported by BBC Sport as £1 million.