Jan was born in 1956 in Kingston upon Hull, England, to a Yorkshire mum and a man from the Netherlands province of Limburg.
Like many writers, his life is a twisted tale with too many turnings to tell (and more than a little alliteration). But one of the more relevant turns saw him graduate from Deakin University with first-class honours in Literature and Philosophy. Granted a Commonwealth Scholarship, he commenced an MA, but due to growing family demands abandoned this project to become manager of a bookshop specialising in Science Fiction and comic books (for which he retains a passion many will find strange).
His varied work experience continued, with stints in advertising as a designer, editor, copywriter and illustrator, followed by many years of freelance work for the advertising and publishing industries. In addition to producing book covers and illustrations, Jan also found time to write numerous reviews, short stories and novels as well as teaching the TAFE course, Professional Writing and Editing, and the course, Comic Book Creation, which he devised.
In 1998, Jan began assessing manuscripts for Lynk Manuscript Assessment Service.
His work has appeared on and in publications from Deakin University, Sequence Productions, Bambada Press, Apollo Press, Bolinda Publishing, Cloud Nine Media, Hinkler Books and Marvel Comics (to mention a few). Amongst his works is the children's books series 'Wild and Crazy Dinosaurs' written under the pseudonym, Jo Hannes.

Having spent many years advising authors how to polish their work, Jan has decided to practise what he’s been preaching.

Jan’s most recent project is a post-apocalyptic graphic novel, which he is writing and illustrating for Blackhouse Comics. The novel will be released through 2008–09 in five instalments in comic-book form, before being collected in graphic-novel format. An extensive selection of Jan’s artwork can be viewed on his Facebook page, including a sneak peak at the new graphic novel. A number of sequels are planned.