His breakthrough came after winning two important talent contests, most notably on national television in the show Talentiaden (NRK) in 1994.
Danielsen won his first talent show in 1988, at the age of twelve; the prize was a record deal and he released the single "Jeg Ser En Dag" (I See The Day).
He became widely noticed when he was appearing and singing in the popular youth program called Midt I Smørøyet on Norwegian Television NRK with "Somewhere" and between 1988 and 1993 he sang regularly with the Hamar Symphony Orchestra.
In 1992 Jan Werner got his second record deal, and was also included in plans for the cultural events around the Olympic Winter Games in Lillehammer, Norway in February 1994.
He has performed with artists such as Benedicte Adrian, Secret Garden, Sølvguttene, Tommy Körberg, Øivind Blunck, Outer Suløens Jass-ensemble, and last but not least the Swede Robert Wells in the Royal Albert Hall in 2003.
From 1997 they held Christmas concerts all over Norway, and in the summer of 1999 they recorded an album in the Uranienborg Church (Oslo) with selected tracks from the same tour.
They wanted to pay tribute to Jan Werner in his own way and they also recorded his version of "Always There" (from "Stronger"), for their CD "The Canadian Tenors" in 2009.
On 28 September 2006, Danielsen's friend and manager Febe Rognstad found him dead in his Oslo flat.
It went on to become a huge success, selling 63,000 copies in its opening week alone, reaching number one in the Norwegian chart "VG-lista".
[3] At his funeral the church was packed with colleagues and celebrities, the highlight being his former duet partner Elisabeth Andreassen performing "You Raise Me Up" together with a recording of Danielsen's voice, accompanied by the song's composer Rolf Løvland on piano.
It appears that Danielsen's death was caused by heart failure, most likely as a result of an inflammation of the bronchi of the lungs, combined with physical fatigue after a period with too much work.
These recordings were found by Jan Werner's family after his death and released in cooperation with Universal Music.