
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."

Ugly Beauty
2010

Manet: The Man Who Invented Modern Art
2009 · as Narrator

Beijing Swings
2003 · as Self - presenter

Gauguin: The Full Story
2003 · as Presenter

Paradise Found
2005 · as Himself

Here Comes the Summer: The Undertones Story
2012 · as Himself

Mary Magdalene: Art's Scarlet Woman
2017 · as Presenter

Waldemar Januszcak: My Ukrainian Journey
2022 · as Self

Rubens: An Extra Large Story
2015 · as Presenter

Holbein: Eye of the Tudors
2015 · as Himself

B movie
2009 · as Himself

The Michelangelo Code: Lost Secrets of the Sistine Chapel
2005 · as Self

Sickert vs Sargent
2007 · as Self

Borromini: The Dark Side of Baroque
2022 · as Himself

The Lost Supper
1998 · as Self - Narrator

The Mystery of the Nativity
2022

Toulouse-Lautrec: The Full Story
2006 · as Presenter

The Lost Genius of British Art: William Dobson
2011