[12] His father, Vernon, was an engineer[13] and his mother Olga Ruskin (née Bruchovsky)[14] was a local journalist, high school history teacher and historian.

Through the student council, he began booking bands for school events and conducted his first interview with Art Bergmann of the Young Canadians.

[16] While studying history at UBC, Nardwuar wrote papers on Vancouver's Lions Gate Bridge and the assassination of John F.

"[20] Due to his absurd and eccentric style, he has been attacked verbally, physically threatened, and intimidated by people such as Dave Rowntree and Damon Albarn of Blur, who harassed and eventually assaulted Nardwuar.

[21][failed verification] Sonic Youth, Alice Cooper, Henry Rollins, Travis Barker, Lydia Lunch, Harlan Ellison, Beck, Nas, and others have hung up on him or been verbally combative in interviews.

[23][24] Nardwuar has also been known to be a "guerrilla journalist," often sneaking into press conferences under the guise of an orthodox reporter to confront political leaders or other non-musical celebrities with surreal or confusing questions.

"[26] In November 1997, he cut off all his hair and was able to sneak into an APEC conference to ask Jean Chrétien if he supported the pepper spraying of protesters outside.

[28] After Martin won the election, Nardwuar commented on the great predictive power of the "Hip Flip," because neither of the other two candidates had performed the act.

On a campaign trip to Vancouver in December 2005, Nardwuar concluded an interview with then New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton—who, in their first encounter, had taken the instructions to the game and said he would practice for their next encounter—with a successful, coordinated, swinging of their hips.

The 22nd Prime Minister Stephen Harper[29] is the only major candidate from the 2004 election who has never performed a successful "Hip Flip" with Nardwuar.

[34] At the 2013 South by Southwest Festival, film director Brent Hodge and producer Chris Kelly did a retrospective of Nardwuar's career for Time.

[35] In 2019, Nardwuar was inducted into the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame and included in their star walk on Granville Street in Downtown Vancouver.

On July 10, 1999, Nardwuar suffered seizures and temporary paralysis resulting from a cerebral hemorrhage (aborting his planned ambush interview of Courtney Love), but he quickly recovered.

[43] On January 25, 2016, Nardwuar underwent surgical repair of a patent foramen ovale, a hole between two chambers of the heart, which was the likely cause of his stroke.