Zhan Jianjun (1931-2023) was born in Shenyang, Liaoning Province. Zhan was of Manzu (Manchu) ethnicity. He graduated from the Central Art Academy in 1953, but took up his studies again in 1955, when he entered the Oil Painting Research Class of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, where he studied under the Soviet painter Konstantin Maksimov until 1957.
Zhan's forte was oil painting. A number of his works has been included in national collections, and he received many prestigious rewards.