Yoon Chan-young began his acting career as a child actor, making appearances in MBC’s When a Man Loves and Mnet’s Monstar. In 2014, he became part of the main cast of the MBC family drama Mama, which won him Best Young Actor at that year’s APAN Star Awards and MBC Drama Awards. In 2016 and 2017, he portrayed the young counterparts of Sohn Ho-jun and Hong Jong-hyun’s respective characters in the MBC dramas Blow Breeze and The King Loves. His work in both series scored him back-to-back nominations for Best Young Actor at the 2016 and 2017 MBC Drama Awards. Also in 2017, he acted alongside Im Soo-jung in the drama film Mothers, which gave him a Best New Actor nomination at the 6th Wildflower Film Awards. In 2018, he was once again nominated for Best Young Actor, this time at the SBS Drama Awards for Thirty But Seventeen. In 2019, he appeared in the SBS dramas Everything and Nothing and Doctor John, which gave him the Best Young Actor trophy at the SBS Drama Awards. In 2022, he played one of the main characters in the Netflix zombie series All of Us Are Dead.

Yoon Chan-young graduated from Goyang High School of Arts and later enrolled at Hanyang University’s theater and film department.