Hendrik Jan Hein was born in 1822 in Kampen. Like his brother, the landscape painter Christianus Hendricus Hein, he received his first drawing lessons from J. Plugger in Zwolle and from James de Rijk in Hilversum. In 1847 he left for Haarlem, 'the breeding garden of Flora', where he took lessons from the then famous flower painter Hendrik Reekers. Hein subsequently enjoyed great success with his casual still lifes of flowers and fruits. He gathered material for his work in the greenhouses of the most famous flower growers in Haarlem.