[5] Growing up in the South Bay area of Greater Los Angeles, Uelmen began taking piano lessons at age six from his tutor, Lenee Bilski,[6][7][8][9] who provided him with a strong theoretical foundation.

[6][8] He studied at Georgetown University from 1989 to 1993, where he earned the Mary Catherine Mita Prize for his thesis Cannibal Culture, Technology and American music in 1993.

[10][11] During college, he was also a keyboardist in a six-member bar band, where he acquired practical experience and learned about "arrangement, interaction and economy".

[6] His first notable work in this period was on the game Justice League Task Force for Sunsoft, released in 1995 for the Sega Genesis.

When asked whether he had worked on the earlier version of Diablo III prior to the shutdown of Blizzard North, he responded, "I guess at this point I can say, yes, more or less.

[22] In 2009, Uelmen joined the newly formed Runic Games, which includes several former Blizzard North and Flagship Studios employees.