Janusz Olejniczak is a Polish classical pianist and actor.

Olejniczak's piano teachers were Ryszard Bakst

Ryszard Bakst

Ryszard Bakst was a Polish and British pianist and piano teacher of Jewish/Polish/Russian origin.Bakst was a descendant of the Russian artist Leon Bakst...

 and Zbigniew Drzewiecki

Zbigniew Drzewiecki

Zbigniew Drzewiecki was a Polish pianist especially associated with the interpretation of Chopin's works, who was for most of his life a teacher of pianists. His pupils include several famous pianists of the 20th century, and his influence was therefore very pervasive.Drzewiecki was born in Warsaw...

. In 1970 he won 6th place in the International Frederick Chopin Piano Competition

International Frederick Chopin Piano Competition

The International Chopin Piano Competition , often referred to as the Chopin Competition, is a piano competition held in Warsaw, Poland to honour the name of Frédéric Chopin. It is one of the oldest and most prestigious music competitions in the world...

 in Warsaw

Warsaw

Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...

, and two years later he placed in the Alfredo Casella Piano Competition in Naples. From 1971-1972 he studied in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 with Konstanty Schmaeling and Witold Malcuzynski

Witold Malcuzynski

Witold Małcużyński was a distinguished Polish pianist who specialized in the works of Frédéric Chopin. His playing was marked by great passion and poetry.-Biography:...

.

He was a member of a chamber orchestra, and his repertory includes compositions of Beethoven, Schumann

Robert Schumann

Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....

, Schubert, Chopin, Ravel, and Prokofiev. He has recorded often for radio and television as well as on compact disc for labels such as Polskie Nagrania, Selene, Pony Canyon

Pony Canyon

is a Japanese company, established on October 1, 1966 , which publishes music, DVD and VHS videos, movies and video games. It is a subsidiary of Japanese Media Group, Fujisankei Communications Group.-History:...

, Opus 111 and CD Accord. Among his awards are five Fryderyk

Fryderyk

The Fryderyk is the annual award in Polish music. Its name refers to the original Polish spelling variant of Polish composer Frédéric Chopin's first name...

s and numerous awards for his recordings of the Chopin Piano Concertos with the Warsaw Symphony Orchestra.

He played Chopin's music in Andrzej Zulawski

Andrzej Zulawski

Andrzej Żuławski is a Polish film director. He was born in Lwów, Poland . Żuławski has often gone against mainstream commercialism in his films,and has enjoyed success mostly with European art-house audiences....

's film The Blue Note, and appears as the hands of Wladyslaw Szpilman

Wladyslaw Szpilman

Władysław "Wladek" Szpilman was a Polish-Jewish pianist, composer, and memoirist. Szpilman is widely known as the protagonist of the Roman Polanski film The Pianist, which is based on his memoir of the same name recounting how he survived the Holocaust...

 in Adrien Brody

Adrien Brody

Adrien Brody is an American actor and film producer. He received widespread recognition and acclaim after starring in Roman Polanski's The Pianist . Winning the Academy Award for Best Actor in 2003 at age 29, he is the youngest actor to do so...

's role in the film The Pianist

The Pianist (2002 film)

The Pianist is a 2002 biographical war film directed by Roman Polanski, starring Adrien Brody. It is an adaptation of the autobiography of the same name by Jewish-Polish musician Władysław Szpilman...

.