Jens Harzer attended actor"s training at Munich"s Otto-Falckenberg-Schule and has so far made a name mainly as a theatre actor. After graduating from drama school, he performed at Munich"s Kammerspiele as well as at the Bayerisches Staatsschauspiel under director Dieter Dorn. Harzer also made guest appearances at Berlin"s Schaubühne, Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg and at Salzburg"s Festspiele.

Harzer is rarely seen in movies and mainly starred in supporting roles. During the mid-1990s, he made short appearances in films by Herbert Achternbusch such as "Hades" or "Picasso in München" ("Picasso in Munich"). In 1994/95, Harzer played a supporting role in Michael Verhoeven"s "Mutters Courage" ("My Mother"s Courage"). He was also seen in a supporting role in Hans-Christian Schmid"s "Requiem" (2004-06). In 2005/06, Harzer finally starred in his first leading role in Bülent Akinci"s film "Der Lebensversicherer" ("Running on Empty").