Harinder Jit Singh Chimni was born on 3 March 1945 at Gujranwala (now in Pakistan).
He hails from a Sporting Family: his father was in the Signal Corps and a Services Hockey player who toured Ceylon (Sri Lanka) with Maj Dhyan Chand in 1945 & his elder brother Harbinder Singh Chimni has played 3 Olympics, 3 Asian Games and is an Arjuna and Padma Shree Awardee, thus Hockey and sports ran in his veins.
He joined the National Defence Academy (NDA) in 1961. He excelled in all sports but it was Hockey that got him Academy Blue and Academy Team Captaincy both at NDA and Indian Military Academy (IMA).
He was commissioned into 1 SIKH on 27 Jun 1965. Between 1970 - 76, his hockey career was at peak as the most prolific scorer. He led Services team into Nationals & was twice the highest goal scorer.
He made his international debut in 1971 when he was selected for the India at the Regional Hockey Tournament (Pesta Sukan) in Singapore.
He attended the National Team Coaching Camp for Asian Games in 1970 and 1974; the Munich 1972 Olympics; and the 1971 & 1973 World Cups.
He was selected to represent India at the Kuala Lumpur 1975 World Cup in Malaysia where India won the Gold Medal.
He retired in 2001 and became actively involved with Nehru Hockey Association and Maharaja Ranjit Singh Trust thus promoting and organising summer hockey coaching Camps and hockey tournaments in Delhi.