Trbojevic was born in Mona Vale, New South Wales, Australia. He is of a mixed Anglo-Celtic, and Serbian ancestry, as he noted on the Foxtel program, Sterlo, on 28 February 2017 He played his junior rugby league for Mona Vale Raiders in the Mona Vale rugby league, before being signed by the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. During his time at Mona Vale Raiders Rugby League club, he was coached by Mitchel Murphy and assisted by Steve Wilson, both helped to shape Jakes rugby league career. Trbojevic is the older brother of fellow Manly Warringah Sea Eagles player Tom Trbojevic. Trbojevic has played for the New South Wales U16's and U18's teams. In October 2011, Trbojevic played for the Australian Schoolboys. On 7 March 2012, Trbojevic re-signed with the Sea Eagles on a 2-year contract. Trbojevic played for the Sea Eagles NYC team in 2013. On 20 April 2013, Trbojevic was named in the New South Wales Under 20s team against the Queensland Under 20s team, Trbojevic played off the interchange bench in the 36-12 victory at Penrith Stadium. On 27 August 2013, Trbojevic was named at in the 2013 NYC Team of the Year. On 13 October 2013, Trbojevic played for the Junior Kangaroos against the Junior Kiwis off the interchange bench in the Kangaroos 38-26 win at Jubilee Oval.
Trbojevic played no matches for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in the 2014 NRL season after suffering a broken leg and dislocated ankle in a New South Wales Cup match.
2015
In round 2 of the 2015 NRL season, Trbojevic played his first grade match for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles since round 26 in the 2013 NRL season, playing against the Melbourne Storm off the interchange in the club's 24-22 win at Brookvale Oval. On 28 April 2015 Trbojevic re-signed with the Sea Eagles on a 2-year contract. In Round 20 against the New Zealand Warriors, Trbojevic scored his first NRL career try in the club's 32-12 win at Mt Smart Stadium. On the 8th of September, Trbojevic's form for Manly, which finished the season in 9th place with an 11-13 record saw him win the clubs "Roy Bull Best & Fairest" award for the year. He played 23 games for Manly in 2015, scoring 3 tries, making 601 tackles, 2,559 metres and 247 hit ups. On 26 September, Trbojevic earned his first senior representative jumper when he played at prop for the Prime Minister's XIII against Papua New Guinea in the 40-12 win in Port Moresby.
Manly coach Trent Barrett named Jake Trbojevic as vice-captain of Manly-Warringah for the 2017 NRL season with Daly Cherry-Evans named as captain, the pair taking over from retired captain Jamie Lyon and vice-captain Brett Stewart. Trbojevic finished the year with 23 games and 9 tries. At the end of the year, Trbojevic was selected in the 24 man squad to play for Australia with his younger brother Tom Trbojevic. He was injured in the first game of the World Cup and did not play for the rest of the tournament.
2018
Trbojevic played all three games for the New South Wales Blues on the Bench. He was a shining light in an otherwise rocky season at the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles. At the years end, Trbojevic was selected to play in the Prime Minister's XIII which they went on to win 18 – 34.
2019
Trbojevic was selected by New South Wales to play in the 2019 State of Origin series after a good start to the season. Trbojevic played in all 3 matches as New South Wales won the series 2-1. It was the first time since 2005 that New South Wales had won back to back series. Trbojevic made 25 appearances for Manly in the 2019 NRL season as the club qualified for the finals after finishing in sixth place. Trbojevic played in the club's elimination final victory over Cronulla and also featured in Manly's elimination final loss against South Sydney where he was controversially sent to the sin bin for allegedly pushing a Souths player in the second half of the match. On 30 September, Trbojevic was named at lock for the Australia PM XIII side. On 7 October, Trbojevic was named in the Australian side for the upcoming Oceania Cup fixtures.
