Born in Czernowitz in Austria-Hungary (today Chernivtsi, Ukraine), Sherf made aliyah in 1925. He was a member of Poale Zion's youth movement, and was a founder of the "Socialist Youth" movement.

During World War II he was a member of the Haganah command, and following the war, worked for the Jewish Agency for Israel for two years.

In 1947 he was appointed secretary of the Situation Committee, which helped create the administrative apparatus of the new state. Following independence, he served as secretary of the government until 1957.

In the 1965 elections he was voted into the Knesset on the Alignment's list. In November 1966 he was appointed Minister of Trade and Industry, and in August 1968 also became Minister of Finance. He held both posts until after the 1969 elections, when he became Minister of Housing. He was not re-elected in the 1973 elections and lost his place in the cabinet the following year when Golda Meir resigned as Prime Minister.

• Law and Administration in the State, 1953
• Three Days, 1959

• Ze'ev Sherf on the Knesset website