White was born in Melbourne. His family moved to the Gold Coast when he was two years old, and he attended John Paul College during his high school years. He was first selected to represent Queensland in basketball at under 12 level, and continued to make representative teams up to under 18 level. In 2005, he rejected a scholarship offer from the Australian Institute of Sport to concentrate on Australian football.
White was drafted by the Sydney Swans with pick 79 in the 2006 AFL draft. Despite being drafted in 2006, White didn't make his league debut until round 6, 2008, under controversial circumstances, when White mistakenly entered the playing field before Darren Jolly had left the field in the final minutes of their drawn match against. The AFL fined Sydney $50,000 for having an extra man on the field for approximately 18 seconds, which led to the formation of the new interchange policy. In round 22 of the 2009 AFL season, White was rewarded with a nomination for the 2009 AFL Rising Star award. White's playing style is primarily a forward that can also ruck. After Peter Everitt retired, White played as the second ruck to Darren Jolly. After Barry Hall's retirement and subsequent trade to Western Bulldogs in the 2009 off-season, White was moved into the forward line, kicking four goals in his first match as a forward. The Swans re-signed him in 2010 on a three-year contract to prevent the new club, from recruiting him. Despite promising performances as a forward throughout the 2010 season, he spent considerable time in the North East Australian Football League throughout 2011 and the 2012 premiership year, due to inconsistent form. With a season left to run on his contract, the Swans attempted to use White in the trade for Kurt Tippett with. The subsequent AFL investigation from the attempted trade discovered that Adelaide had breached the salary cap and contract laws governing the players. White remained a Swans player for the 2013 season. With Goodes injured for most of the season, White was often instrumental, kicking 20 goals in 15 games, with his best match against Adelaide, individually outscoring Adelaide with three goals to three quarter time. Despite his improved performances and Sydney's attempts to re-sign him, he moved to in a three-way trade with Sydney, Collingwood and the West Coast Eagles. On 10 August2017, White announced his retirement from AFL football at the end of the season.
Post-AFL career
Following his retirement from AFL, White began training with National Basketball League side Melbourne United. filters. In 2018, he returned to football signing with SANFL club Glenelg Football Club. In 2019, Jesse won the SANFL premiership and the Glenelg Football Club J H Eller Best and Fairest award and announced his retirement
