Štětina was born in Prague in 1943. From 1961-1967, he studied at the Prague University of Economics and Business.
From 1965 until 1968, Štětina was a member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.[2] In 1968, he started working as a journalist for the newspaper Mladá Fronta, and his time there coincided with the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia, during which the Soviet army seized control of the newspaper's offices. Štětina was subsequently fired due to his disagreement with the Warsaw Pact occupation.
He subsequently worked as a geodesist, and while working, studied geology long-distance at Charles University in Prague, during which he organised 25 geologic or sport tours to Siberia and Asia. During the same years, Štětina wrote his most famous book, S matyldou po Indu, on the topic of rafting.
In 1987, he started engaging in public speaking. In 1989, he co-founded a syndicate of journalists, ultimately resuming his work as a journalist, at the re-established Lidové noviny. In 1990 he began working as a foreign correspondent in Moscow, where he covered numerous conflicts in the former Soviet Union. In 1992, he founded the Lidových novin foundation. During 1993-94 he was editor-in-chief of Lidové noviny. In 1994, he founded the journalism agency Epicentrum, dedicated to war reporting, with fellow journalist Petra Procházková.
Štětina has specialised in military conflicts, covering over 20 different conflict zones in Europe, Asia and Africa. He has published 10 books, as well as dozens of documentaries, and many articles.