Van spent most of his early adult life as a member of an elite military Special Forces unit, where he earned the nickname Damage.

Van Damage began his career in adult entertainment in 1995, producing a series of videos featuring local amateur girls located in Pacific Beach, a community in San Diego. After that first year of directing and producing he was nominated by AVN in three different categories, solidifying his place in the adult industry.

Then he spent 13 months beginning in 1997 as a contract director for a then newly formed company called Elegant Angel, producing fifteen movies for that company which garnered seven AVN nominations that year and an XRCO win. After the 1997 AVN awards (January 1998) show in Las Vegas, a mass exodus of Elegant Angel’s directors ensued after a wage and personality dispute between them and the company’s owner, Patrick Collins.

In 1998, Van spent nearly a year directing videos for Extreme Associates with fellow Elegant Angel directors, Rob Black, Tom Byron and Tiffany Mynx. For his efforts there, Van Damage received several more AVN nominations and another XRCO win for best group sex scene. Van Damage left that company after one year and a legal battle arose when he sued fellow directors for holding back revenues due to him.

During 1999, Van Damage directed only two movies for the entire year, and yet still received nine AVN, and three XRCO nominations in a marked that released over 9,000 adult videos. Adam Film World Magazine's, 2000 Yearly Directory quoted: Van Damage is one of top five directors to watch for in the new millennium. Van Damage has not produced movies again at the same capacity.

At the end of 2000, Van Damage formed the "Pagan Pictures", a production company with Tiffany Mynx and veteran Hall of Fame cameraman Jane Waters. Their titles were highly praised by trade magazines, especially their initial release A Toe Story.

Van Damage currently works predominantly as a leading male performer in front of the lens. Discolorations on his skin (penis) suggest that he may have vitiligo.