Janusz Olejniczak

Biography

Janusz Olejniczak (2 October 1952 – 20 October 2024) was a Polish classical pianist, academic teacher and actor. He made an international career as a pianist, especially with the piano music of Chopin which he played on modern and period instruments. He portrayed the composer in the 1991 film Blue Note, and played piano music in the 2002 film The Pianist, also appearing as the hand double.

Olejniczak was born in Wrocław on 2 October 1952. He began playing piano at the age of six. The family moved to Warsaw where he had piano lessons from Luiza Walewska; he was trained by Ryszard Bakst and Zbigniew Drzewiecki from 1967 to 1969. In 1970, he placed sixth in the VIII International Chopin Piano...