Theatre critic, publicist, cultural reviewer Vaidas Jauniškis graduated from Vilnius University (Lithuanian Philology) in 1988. He attended theatre and film criticism, and cultural management seminars in Lithuania and abroad (Stockholm, Ljubljana, Copenhagen, Lublin, Helsinki, Zurich, Brussels, etc.). 

Jauniškis worked in the editorial offices of the magazine Mokslas ir gyvenimas (1989–1993), the daily newspapers Lietuvos Rytas (1993–98, editor of the supplement TV Antena), and Kauno diena (1998–2002). He was the editor of the magazine Teatras in 1999–2004 and of the performing arts website menufaktura.lt in 2005–2015. In 2005–2017, Jauniškis worked as a programme manager at Menų Spaustuvė. He has directed the author’s radio shows Pakelė (LRT Radijas, 2006) and Refleksijos (LRT Klasika, 2020–2021). Since 2009, he teaches at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre.

Since 1986, Jauniškis writes articles on theatre and film criticism and cultural policy in the publications Kinas, Kultūros Barai, Literatūra Ir Menas, Krantai, Teatro Žurnalas, Lietuvos Rytas, Kauno Diena, Verslo Žinios, on the websites 15min.lt, menufaktura.lt, and lrt.lt. His texts were printed by foreign publications kroders.lv, Teātra Vēstnesis (Latvia), Dialog, Gazeta Wyborcza, Notatnik Teatralny (Poland), Divadlo V Medziczase (Slovakia), Republika, Maska (Slovenia), Theater der Zeit (Germany), Theatermaker (Netherlands), and others.

Jauniškis prepared a book about the actor Povilas Budrys – Apie taką: Kelios dienos su aktoriumi P. Budriu (About the Path: A Few Days with Actor Povilas Budrys) (1992). He was the special editor and author of the introductions to Hans-Thies Lehmann’s Postdramatic Theatre (2010) and Erika Fischer-Lichte’s Performative Aesthetics (2013). He has published articles on culture (including cultural policy), theatre, cinema and art. In 2021, Jauniškis’s essay collection Patirti Peizažą (Experiencing the Landscape) came out. 

Vaidas Jauniškis has won the Award of the Ministry of Culture for the best publicistic works (2000 and 2020), the Award of the Lithuanian Journalist Union for the best publicistic works on cultural policy (2001), and the Award of the Lithuanian Theatre Union for the best theatrical publicism (2012). In 2015, he was awarded the Silver Cross of Merit of the President of the Republic of Poland.