Jan van Zanen was born in 1961 and spent his childhood in Edam-Volendam. After completing secondary school, he graduated in law from VU University Amsterdam and Cornell Law School in Ithaca, New York, USA, in 1985. He fulfilled his military service as a reserve officer in the Royal Netherlands Air Force. He then went on to work as an administrative and executive secretary at a national business association until 1998.
From 1990, Van Zanen was a member of the Utrecht City Council, after which he became alderman for finance, economic affairs, public space and monuments in 1998. From 2003 to 2008, he was national chairman of the VVD.
From July 2005 to December 2013, Van Zanen was mayor of Amstelveen. On 1 January 2014, he became mayor of Utrecht. From June 2015 to June 2023, Jan van Zanen was chairman of the Association of Netherlands Municipalities (VNG). On 1 July 2020, Jan van Zanen became mayor of The Hague.
