Jonsson began his working career as a sailor, before stopping in New Zealand in 1915 and relocating to Australia in March 1917. He studied full-time from 1918 to 1920 and worked as a commercial artist and freelance cartoonist, with work published in Aussie in the early 1920s.

He started at Smith’s Weekly in 1924, where he was reported as one of the paper's most popular artists. When Smith’s ceased publication in 1950, Jonsson the longest serving artist on the staff.

Jonsson was a foundation member of the Society of Australian Black and White Artists in 1924.

In 1950, Jonsson moved to the Sydney offices of the Brisbane Courier Mail while providing comic strips for the Herald and Weekly Times (February 1951 to March 1963). In 1951, he created the successful strip 'Uncle Joe’s Horse Radish’, which was carried on by Ian Gall after Jonsson's death.