[6][10] Johnson briefly attended American River College in Sacramento, California before moving to New York City with his brother Jay in January 1968.

[14] In February 1968, Johnson delivered a telegram to the Decker building at 33 Union Square West where artist Andy Warhol had recently relocated his studio, the Factory.

[17] Johnson began by stripping wood and quickly advanced to more general tasks, becoming the Factory's first regular salaried employee since Gerard Malanga.

[16] Warhol allowed Johnson and his brother to use his charge account at Max's Kansas City, and when he saw where they lived he loaned them money for a deposit to move into an apartment in a safer neighborhood on East 17th Street and Irving Place.

[21][7] Subsequently, Johnson moved into Warhol's townhouse at 1342 Lexington Avenue in Carnegie Hill to help him recuperate and to look after his ailing mother Julia Warhola.

"[12] After expressing interest in working on sound, Warhol and Morrissey trained Johnson, and he started assisting them on their underground films.

[23] Warhol had intended for Johnson to edit his film San Diego Surf (1968), but after he was shot the project was shelved.

In 1969, his photographs were featured in artist Al Hansen's underground magazine Kiss, for which Warhol wrote a gossip column.

[34][35][36] He was an integral part of Warhol's inner circle, traveling with the artist for museum exhibitions, gallery shows, and portrait commissions.

[43][44] Johnson had aspirations to become a pilot like his father, and at one point he paid for flying lessons, but he was unable to obtain his license due to his suicide attempt.

[43] In 1980, while still residing with Warhol, Johnson purchased a duplex apartment to use as an office for his decorating business at 15 West 67th Street.

[53] His collection included Silver Elvis, Front and Back Dollar Bills, Mao, Flowers, and other assorted signed Warhol silkscreens which his twin brother Jay Johnson inherited after his death.

[59] Johnson had enjoyed organizing Warhol's Lexington Avenue townhouse so when they moved to a larger residence he was put in charge of decorating their new home.

[60][61] Johnson drew inspiration from his travels with Warhol over the years and was "greatly influenced by the quality of furniture and collections he saw and by the style with which they were displayed.

"[62][31] Johnson expanded Warhol's growing collections and experimented with three different styles: Neoclassical, Art Deco, and Victorian.

[6] Art collector Stuart Pivar, a friend of Johnson and Warhol's, said, "Jed built period rooms of such refinement and perfection.

[70] The apartment featured Neo-Grec and American Empire style furniture, stenciled friezes, and lush furnishing.

[71] It was showcased in a spread in Vogue's May 1979 issue, in which the magazine declared that the apartment had "a warm, comfortable, rich ambience unlike any other in the city.

[77][78] They were introduced by a mutual friend, art dealer Thomas Ammann, and became collaborators which developed into a romantic relationship.

[80][7] In 1982, they co-founded a design company, which they ran jointly until they created their separate entities—Jed Johnson & Associates and Alan Wanzenberg Architect.

[28][66] In 1991, they participated in Metropolitan Home magazine's ShowHouse benefit for the Design Industries Foundation for AIDS (DIFFA).

He was as interested in fabric and texture as in mass and shape, which is why he could hang a Cy Twombly painting on eighteenth-century Chinese wallpaper or a Venetian-glass chandelier next to a huge nineteenth-century Irish scagliola urn.

[87] As a passenger in first class, Johnson was killed instantly, and his body was one of the first recovered a mile from the crash scene in the Atlantic Ocean.

[6] Johnsons' longtime friend Joan Lunden, then co-host of Good Morning America, eulogized him on air.

[88] Johnson's family and friends such as writer Fran Lebowitz, and art collector Stuart Pivar released statements following his death.

[90] House & Garden magazine dedicated an issue to him and Architectural Digest ran a five-page photo layout of his work.

[6] In 2005, Rizzoli published the book Jed Johnson: Opulent Restraint, Interiors a monograph documenting his career.