Januszczak was born in Basingstoke, Hampshire, to Polish refugees who had arrived in England after the Second World War. After studying history of art at the University of Manchester, Januszczak became an art critic – and then arts editor – of The Guardian. In 1990 he was appointed head of arts at the UK's Channel 4 television and in 1992 he became art critic for The Sunday Times. He has been voted Critic of the Year twice by the Press Association. Januszczak has been described as "a passionate art lover, art critic and writer. His presentation style is casual but informed, enthusiastic, evocative and humorous. He bumbles about on our TV screens, doing for art what David Attenborough has done for the natural world," and someone who acts out of "a refusal to present art as elitist in any way. He makes it utterly accessible and understandable."

Filmography

• Art's Wildest Movement: Mannerism — Self, Director, Writer, Creator
• 2022The Mystery of the Nativity
• 2022Waldemar Januszcak: My Ukrainian Journey — Self, Director
• The Art Mysteries with Waldemar Januszczak — Host, Narrator, Writer, Creator
• Handmade in Bolton — Narrator, Director
• Big Sky, Big Dreams, Big Art: Made in the USA — Host, Narrator, Writer
• 2017Mary Magdalene: Art's Scarlet Woman — Presenter, Writer, Director, Producer
• The Renaissance Unchained — Self - Presenter, Writer
• 2015Holbein: Eye of the Tudors — Himself, Writer, Director
• 2015Rubens: An Extra Large Story — Presenter, Director, Writer
• Rococo: Travel, Pleasure, Madness — Host, Narrator, Writer, Creator
• The Dark Ages: An Age of Light — Self - Presenter, Director, Writer, Creator
• The Impressionists: Painting and Revolution — Himself, Director
• 2011The Lost Genius of British Art: William Dobson — Director
• 2011William Dobson: The Lost Genius of Baroque — Presenter, Director
• 2010Ugly Beauty — Director
• Baroque! From St Peter's to St Paul's — Host
• 2009Manet: The Man Who Invented Modern Art — Narrator, Director
• 2007Sickert vs Sargent — Self, Director
• 2007Travels with My Camera: The Happy Dictator — Director
• 2006Toulouse-Lautrec: The Full Story — Presenter, Director
• 2005The Michelangelo Code: Lost Secrets of the Sistine Chapel — Self, Director
• 2003Beijing Swings — Self - presenter, Writer
• 2003Gauguin: The Full Story — Presenter, Director, Writer
• Picasso: Magic, Sex & Death — Producer
• 1999Puppy Love — Presenter
• 1998The Lost Supper — Self - Narrator, Writer
• Arthouse — Self - Presenter, Producer

Appearances as themselves (7)

• 2022Borromini: The Dark Side of Baroque — Himself
• 2022Boy Bitten by a Lizard by Caravaggio — Self - Presenter
• 2012Here Comes the Summer: The Undertones Story — Himself
• Celebrity Antiques Road Trip — Self - Participant
• Understanding Art: Impressionism — Self - Host
• 2009B movie — Himself
• 2005Paradise Found — Himself