Andrew was born in Aurora, Illinois. He is an actor, director, writer, composer and painter. Classic roles he’s played include Uncle Vanya, Richard III, Othello, Oberon and JP Worthing. He appeared off-Broadway in The Country Girl, starring Karen Allen and David Rashe at the Roundabout Theatre. Additionally, he appeared in a starring role in Tchaikovsky’s Peter And The Wolf, with the Little Orchestra Society at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. He has performed with The Kilkenny Ireland Theatre Company, The Brothers Grinn improv troupe, Bay Players, American Family Theatre, Rockaway Theater Company, Cambridge Creative Ensemble (co-founder) and has taught throughout New York and Massachusetts.

He performed as a vocalist at the Knitting Factory (with Joseph Jarman of the great Art Ensemble of Chicago). He’s participated in several European television commercials and independent films. He’s also appeared on NBC’s "Saturday Night Live". He studied acting at PBT and with the great Gene Frankel. He’s directed Arsenic And Old Lace, Waiting For Godot, Much Ado About Nothing, Taming Of The Shrew, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Comedy Of Errors. In the mid-1990’s he collaborated with Broadway actresses Colleen Kennedy and the legendary Rosemary Harris on The Catupla Tree, a solo tour-de-force on the life of Lady Gregory co-written with Ms. Kennedy.

Through 2000 he served as head of the Drama Department for the Rockaway Artists’ Alliance(RAA), a government funded cultural organization in Queens, NY. RAA featured a host of international artists from varying disciplines. He performed the role of fundraiser the Metropolitan Opera House and carpenter for the Juilliard School. He has written over 20 produced works for stage, page and screen, including his solo performance series called None of a Kind for which he is currently working on part five. Other plays and adaptation written by Mr. Nielson include: Chlorine in the Cologne, Grade School Musical, Young Abraham Lincoln, Alf Does Disney, King Arthur, Springtime On The High Seas, Dog Pound Blues, Fractured Fairytales and The Cybernaughts. As composer he’s written the music for two modern dance productions (Bricklayer, A Bhu-Dance For Monica and Letters From Sunshine), Second Spring, a two-character love story, Thumbelina, adapted for children, and Grade School Musical. Mr. Nielson has studied music with the incomparable Charlie Banacos.