Ivanek was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia, then a part of Yugoslavia. He emigrated with his parents to the United States in 1960 when he was 3 years old; after a two-year stay, the family moved back to Slovenia for five years and then returned to the United States in 1967. Ivanek graduated from Yale University in 1978 and afterward attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

In 1982, Ivanek originated the role of Hally in Athol Fugard's play Master Harold...and the Boys. He has also appeared in the U.S. premieres of such notable plays as Caryl Churchill's Cloud Nine - garnering the 1981 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play - and Martin McDonagh's The Pillowman. He would later work again with McDonagh, playing a minor role as a Canadian tourist in the film In Bruges.

Ivanek frequently appears on Broadway and has been nominated for three Tony Awards: one for his performance in the original production of Brighton Beach Memoirs, one more as a featured actor in Two Shakespearean Actors, and another for his lead performance as Captain Queeg in a revival of The Caine Mutiny Court Martial alongside David Schwimmer and Tim Daly.

Ivanek is perhaps best known for his supporting roles in the television series The X Files as Roland; Homicide: Life on the Street as prosecuting attorney Ed Danvers; Damages as Ray Fiske; Oz as Governor James Devlin; 24 as Andre Drazen; Lost as Edmund Burke; Heroes as Emile Danko; and as J.J. in HBO's series Big Love.

In his screen appearances, he often plays professional men such as lawyers or government functionaries, sometimes of an evil nature.

In 2006, he guest starred on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit playing the father of a college student (Schuyler Fisk) with whom he has an incestuous relationship.

Ivanek portrayed John Dickinson, representative from Pennsylvania of the Second Continental Congress in the HBO miniseries John Adams. He was again seen on HBO in November 2008 in the series True Blood, in which he played the role of the Magister. He reprised his role as the Magister in 2010, the show's third season.

On September 21, 2008 Ivanek was awarded an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his performance in the role of Ray Fiske on Damages.

Ivanek appeared in the third and fourth seasons of Big Love, as Nicki Grant's first husband, J.J.

He appeared as a gun-wielding patient in the episode "Last Resort" on House.

Ivanek was in the NBC drama series The Event.

这个就是《傲骨贤妻》那个整天推着婴儿车还相当认死理认真的调查员Andrew Wiley！最近在电视剧《末世》里面客串Ben Matheson。他就是那种演了很久都不红的演员。

客串过《国土安全》里面的Scott Ryan。客串过ABC电视剧《地狱之轮 Hell on Wheels》里的Collis Huntington，客串过《以法之名/裂痕》里的Jake Stahl，客串过《千谎百计》里的Alec Foster，客串过《反恐24小时》里的Ken Dellao，客串过《鬼语者》里的Charlie Filbert，客串过《星际之门SG1》里的Tomin。基本上大家比较熟悉的听过的电视剧都客串了一圈。

在各种电影里也是小角色，比如《大象的眼泪 Water for Elephants》，《钢铁侠》1和2里面的少校Allen，《皮帕李的私人生活 The Private Lives of Pippa Lee》，《蹩脚英语 Broken English》，《猫王 Elvis》，《刀锋战士 Blade》，《生死豪情 Courage Under Fire》。

他老丈人是已故著名编剧Horton Foote，得过普利策奖，得过奥斯卡奖，比如《杀死一只知更鸟》就是他的作品。

-------------by 喵星人不再吃鱼 2013-12

1971年2月，肖恩·奥斯汀出生在加利福尼亚的圣莫尼卡，父亲约翰·奥斯汀（John Astin）和母亲帕蒂·杜克（Patty Duke）都是著名演员，耳濡目染的肖恩小小年纪就对表演产生兴趣，1981年9岁的他与母亲一起出演了电视剧集《Please Don't Hit Me, Mom》，4年后他在大银幕亮相，出演了《七宝奇谋》 （The Goonies）并获得一系列好角色的邀约。

肖恩·奥斯汀曾在Crossroads高中学习艺术，还拜过斯特拉-阿德勒（Stella Adler）为师，作为年轻演员，青春喜剧总是不可避免的类型，肖恩也不例外。1987年他与另一位青春偶像柯克·卡梅隆（Kirk Cameron）联袂主演了《有其父必有其子》（Like Father Like Son）后，又接连在《校园英雄队》 （Toy Soldiers）、《Where the Day Takes You》、《追梦赤子心》（Rudy）和《Harrison Bergeron》等几部佳作中露面。 　　

除了演戏，肖恩还大胆涉足导演界，1994年他执导并参与制作的《袋鼠法庭》（Kangaroo Court）在第67届奥斯卡奖上获得最佳短片提名，有趣的是，他的父亲约翰·奥斯汀也于1969年获得相同提名。尽管肖恩已经是个成功的导演，但他还没打算放弃表演。 　　

肖恩·奥斯汀与妻子克里斯汀·奥斯汀（Christine Astin）一起生活在洛杉矶，克里斯汀正是他在《袋鼠法庭》里的合伙制片人。

卢是位含有多种血统的美国演员。他最出名的电影角色是在描写已故美国摇滚歌星瑞奇・瓦伦斯的电影《青春传奇》中扮演瓦伦斯和在电影《少壮屠龙阵》（ Young Guns ）扮演一个墨西哥印第安狂徒。

卢的生父曾是住菲律宾苏比克基地的一名美国海军军官，拥有苏格兰，爱尔兰和切诺基印第安人血统；他的母亲是菲律宾人，拥有菲律宾，夏威夷，中国和西班牙血统。多种族的血统使得卢能演多种角色。在《为人师表 》（Stand and Deliver）中他扮演学习数学的拉丁裔少年，而在《北方阴影》（Shadow of the North）中扮演爱斯基摩人，在《黑风》（The Dark Wind）中又扮演纳瓦霍人。他曾因在百老汇戏剧《国王与我》中扮演暹罗国王而获得托尼奖提名。

作为一名勤奋努力的演员卢学习过戏剧，曾有一部找不到发行商的独立制作的电影求助于卢。他接手后重新写了剧本，增加了一些情节，自己还在片中扮演了其中一个反派角色，把电影最终改造成了一部剧情奇特而又无可挑剔的低成本惊险片，这部电影名叫《非法侵入》（Trespasses）。

经历了1990年代早期的成功之后，他的演艺生涯徘徊不前。在昙花一现的电视片《狼湖》（Wolf Lake）中他扮演一名与狼人打交道的警察。除此之外他在其它电视片扮演了一些令人没有留下什么印象的角色。此间他还演出了一些低成本制作的电影，如《死亡公路666》（Route 666 ）和《异形速递》 (Alien Express)，但这些电影几乎没有公映。他还导演过电视剧集《迷离档案》（The Outer Limits）和《迷离时空》（The Twilight Zone Season）中的部分单集。在空余时间里，他还和摇滚乐队“管道工”（The Pipefitters）一起演出。

2006年12月他被控对同居女友施行家庭暴力，最终被判处三年缓刑，一年心理辅导和200小时的社区服务。

他的名字是为了纪念美国海军陆战队军士利兰・“卢”・戴蒙德，戴蒙德军士参加了两次世界大战，包括英雄般的的瓜达尔卡纳尔战役。菲利普斯是他继父的姓，他的继父也是美国海军军官。

迄今为止，卢结过三次婚，与第二任妻子和现任妻子共育有四个女儿。