Jan Uuspold was born on December 14, 1973, in Tallinn, Estonia. He grew up in Nõmme, where his family had lived for four generations. After attending Mai Street Kindergarten, Jan went to Tallinn's 34th Middle School for five years, before moving to Keila and attending Keila's 1st High School, where he graduated.
Following his graduation, Jan pursued a career in printing, working as an offset printer. He later became a salesman of pots and pans and even worked as a fox shepherd at a fur farm. Jan's experience in the Estonian army taught him discipline and hard work, and he considered serving overtime before being accepted into the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre.
Jan attended EMA Higher Drama School from 1994 to 1998, graduating as a proud member of the 18th flight. His course instructor, Priit Pedajas, offered him a job at the Estonian Drama Theatre, where he gained success quickly and became one of the busiest actors. Jan also played at the Vanemuine in Tartu for two seasons, before returning to the Estonian Drama Theatre in 2007.
In 2009, Jan co-founded the Monotheatre with his partner Karl Kermes, which revived a popular comedy play called "Defending the Caveman" and staged two follow-up plays. The theatre ended its business in 2014. Jan then decided to leave the Estonian Drama Theatre and devote more time to developing his own theatre production company, Prem Productions.
Jan's television career began when he was a first-year student in acting school, landing his first role in the humor show Wremja. He gained recognition for his humorous role as Zorro and went on to work with Dan Põldroos on several projects. In 2000, Jan was cast in the leading role of "Siperian Nero" for YLE2, a Finnish television channel, which he filmed in Tampere and speaks Finnish fluently.
After leaving the Drama Theatre, Jan felt lost and struggled with writer's block. He then had the idea to make a road movie about finding his place under the sun again, which became the most viewed movie at the time, "Jan Uuspold goes to Tartu". The movie made him an icon and brought a record number of people to the cinemas.
Jan has also participated in charity shows, including "Dancing with the Stars" in 2011, where he won the last season, and "Your face sounds familiar" in 2014. He has also attended the show "Taxi" as a taxi-driver Urmas Kuldnokk, and is set to star in the upcoming film "The Spy and the Poet".
Jan is the eldest son of Heidi and Ingar Uuspold, and has two younger brothers, Andrus and Jaanus. He has two children with his wife Gerli Tiganik, whom he married in 2013. The couple currently resides in Nõmme, where Jan grew up.
