Jurij Drevenšek was born in Maribor, Slovenia (Yugoslavia). In his childhood it seemed that he was most likely going to become a musician, but he later found out that he wanted to pursue his acting interests. He graduated from acting at the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television at the University of Ljubljana. Soon after his graduation he received his first professional acknowledgement as an actor by being trusted with the leading role of Moritz in Spring Awakening by Frank Wedekind. Since then he has created over forty theatre roles in different Slovenian theatres, among them many leading ones such as the role of Hamlet in William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Jörgen Tesman in Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler (both roles played at the Slovene National Theatre), Macbeth in William Shakespeare's Macbeth, Max in Martin Sherman's Bent, and Jack in Jack, or the Submission by Eugene Ionesco.

He is also well acquainted with the film industry and has appeared in numerous feature and short films, catching the attention of the Slovenian film public already with his first leading role in the feature film Kruha in iger (Bread and Circuses) where he portrayed Simon. Since then he has been casted in several Slovenian films and also appeared in the first Slovenian horror feature Killbillies, which won several international awards and earned him a Vesna Award for Best Supporting Actor (Slovenian equivalent for the Oscar Award). He also appears as the leading male role in the films The Curse of Valburga and Polsestra (Half - sister), to name a few.

Recently, he has also started working abroad. He appeared in the American feature film Nomad directed by Taron Lexton, in the new feature film by Dragan Bjelogrlić Lančana reakcija (Chain reaction), in a German-Austrian series for ARD and ORF Euer Ehren (Your Honor) directed by David Nawrath, and in the Swedish series for TV4 Hamilton directed by Erik Leijonborg, in the Cinemax series Strike Back directed by Bill Eagles, the television film for ORF and ZDF Immerstill by Eva Spreitzhofer and more to be announced.

He has also been active in the domestic television field. In 2021 he appeared in the TV crime series named Cases of Inspector Vrenko as Detective Breznik, the inspector’s right hand, and while still at the Academy he got to play the lead role of Branko in the sit-com Brat bratu (Brother to Brother). Between 2018 and 2022 he has been the host of the Bob leta awards satirical ceremony broadcasted by the national television.

In 2012 he was chosen as one of the participants at Berlinale Talents.

He has been honoured with several other awards for his work in theatre and in films such as the Borštnik Award (Slovenian equivalent for the Tony Award), Tantadruj Award, the Dnevnik newspaper Award etc.

He used to be a member of Ljubljana City Theatre ensemble and the Slovene National Theatre in Maribor, but now he works as a freelance artist who wishes to engage in new and bold projects that interest him and that really try to push his acting boundaries and offer him a chance to explore new and exciting areas.

Since 2020 he has been the host of the podcast Špilferderber on the Slovenian national radio station Val 202 where he hosts outstanding representatives of his generation.

He is based in Ljubljana and in his free time he likes to lose his temper by supporting his favourite football club NK Maribor. Every now and then he imagines being a world-class guitar player.

He is also one of the founders of the newly-established Screen Actors Guild of Slovenia and has been its president since 2022.