Jan van Helmont was a Flemish painter of history subjects, genre scenes and portraits.

Jan van Helmont was born in Antwerp as the son of the genre painter Mattheus van Helmont. There are no records about his artistic training. He became a master of the Antwerp Guild of St Luke in 1675–1676. In 1676 he became a member of the 'Sodaliteit der Bejaerde Jongmans', a fraternity for bachelors established by the Jesuit order. In 1690 he became a consultor of the 'Sodaliteit der Getrouwden', a fraternity for married men established by the Jesuit order.

Jan van Helmont married on 26 August 1679 Isabella le Rousseau and was the father of the painter and tapestry designer Zeger Jacob van Helmont.

Van Helmont had a number of pupils including Jan le Grand and Jan-Frederickx Verspecken (1682-1683), Peter van Roy (1683-1684), Niclaes van Diest (1685-1686), Ferdinandus Colijns, Petrus de Wolff and Carolus-Henricus Lefever (1696-1697).