Jan Dewilde obtained his degree in musicology at the University of Leuven. He was a research assistant at the Archief en Museum voor het Vlaamse Cultuurleven, where he realized exhibitions on music and the Flemish Movement and on Lodewijk De Vocht.
At the VRT television he worked as a researcher and producer for music programs and concerts. He produced documentaries about Lodewijk De Vocht, Gaston Feremans, Robert Herberigs and Vic Nees.
From 1998, Dewilde worked as a scientific coordinator for the Study Center for Flemish Music and as a research assistant at the Centrum voor Teksteditie en Bronnenstudie at the Koninklijke Academie voor Nederlandse Taal-en Letterkunde and for the Orpheus Institute. Dewilde works on a doctorate on the Prize of Rome and on an extensive biography of Peter Benoit.
Since 2004 Jan Dewilde has been appointed librarian of the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp. As an expert in music from Flanders in the 19th and 20th century, he gives lectures and workshops and is a much sought after and enthusiastic advocate of research and the correct preservation of Flanders' musical heritage.