Jane Holzer was born Jane Brookenfeld on October 23, 1940.Jane`s father, Carl Brookenfeld, had made his fortune in real estate. Although Jane was raised in Florida, her father also had a place in New York where they spent a lot of time. Jane went to Cherry Lawn School in Darien, Connecticut and then to Finch Junior College until she was expelled, preferring dancing at El Morrocco to studying. After Finch, she started modeling and was catapulted to fame when David Bailey took her photographs for English Vogue in the summer of 1963.

According to Jane, she was introduced to Warhol by Nicky Haslam who, at that time, was the editor for Show magazine. Jane thought that Nicky might have introduced her to Warhol on the corner of 59th Street, in front of Bloomingdales. According to Holzer, Warhol told her that he was making a movie called Soap Opera, and asked her if she would like to be in it.

In addition to her film interests, Jane also opened an ice cream shop in Palm Beach, Florida called Sweet Baby Jane`s while living in both New York and Palm Beach.
Warhol produced a silkscreen portrait of Jane in 1975.