Dan Howell was born and raised in Wokingham, Berkshire. Before starting his YouTube channel, he worked in retail chains Focus DIY and Asda. After attending The Forest School, Howell went to the University of Manchester in 2010 to study law, but he dropped out in order to pursue video blogging as a profession. He currently lives in London with fellow YouTuber, BBC Radio 1 presenter and best friend Phil Lester.

Howell initially started making YouTube videos because he was a long-time viewer and was encouraged by some friends, including Phil Lester, to upload videos to his own channel.

He is part of the Fantastic Foursome, a group of British YouTubers consisting of himself, Phil Lester (AmazingPhil), Chris Kendall (crabstickz) and PJ Liguori (KickthePj).

In 2010 and 2011, Howell took part in the live, annual 24-hour internet broadcast "Stickaid," which is a fundraiser that encourages viewers to donate to the charity UNICEF.

In 2012, Howell won the YouTube competition "SuperNote" run by Rhett and Link. Howell also currently features in the weekly video series Becoming YouTube created by Benjamin Cook, which looks at the different aspects to becoming an internet celebrity. Howell also writes a blog for The Huffington Post in which he writes about the creative process behind making his YouTube videos. Howell and Lester collaborate on a YouTube channel for My Damn Channel, The Super Amazing Project in which they investigate paranormal events. As of December 2013, The Super Amazing Project has over 490,000 subscribers. In December 2012, the YouTube show finished its third season of 12 episodes.

As of December 2013, his YouTube channel, danisnotonfire, has more than 3 million subscribers and his videos have been viewed more than 160 million times.

In January 2013, Howell and Lester became the presenters of BBC Radio 1's Sunday evening entertainment and request show. They had occasionally worked with the station before, producing videos for the station's YouTube channel for Edinburgh Festival Fringe and presenting two Christmas broadcasts. The show is designed to be interactive with the audience, featuring amateur music videos from listeners, challenges performed on air by the presenters and song requests.

YouTube Sensations, Online Video, Viral Videos, Authors, Creativity, Literary, Entertainment, YouTube Social Media,