He was born on 11 April 1736 in Gdańsk. Nax was largely self-taught. After coming to Warsaw, he became involved with the local architects’ community; of those, he owed a lot to Jakub Fontana in particular. He worked in various parts of Poland for many wealthy families who entrusted him with alterations and also with the construction of their residences, including farm buildings and gardens. He proposed that works be performed that would make the Warta and Pilica Rivers navigable and would connect them via a canal (ultimately as a part of a nationwide system of canals connecting Polish rivers from Greater Poland to Samogitia). His proposals were supported by the Permanent Council, but since project costs turned out to be very high, it was never implemented. King Stanisław August Poniatowski appointed him the royal architect, although he rejected Nax’s proposal to work for the King in Kraków. From 1778 to 1780, Nax lived in Morawica near Kielce. He never abandoned his plans to improve the condition of Polish waterways – he developed new designs, which were universally admired but never implemented. In 1794, he lost his estate and moved to Warsaw. He died in Warsaw on 19 January 1810. He was the author of political and economic treatises in which he presented quite progressive ideas for his era, especially in social matters, although he was far from the constructivist strain of the Enlightenment. He was closest to the cameralist and mercantilist positions, but remained sceptical about physiocracy. He approved of American and Swiss republicanism. Among his works were Uwagi nad Uwagami czyli Obserwacja nad życiem Jana Zamoyskiego kanclerza i hetmana w. kor. [“Remarks upon remarks or observations on the life of Lord Grand-Chancellor and Grand Hetman of the Crown Jan Zamoyski”] (1789) and Wykład początkowych prawideł ekonomiki politycznej z przystosowaniem przepisów gospodarstwa narodowego do onego wydźwignięcia i polepszenia, stosownie do aktualnego stanu, w którym rzeczy zostają [“Lecture on basic laws of political economics and the adaptation of rules of the national economy for its improvement and enhancement, accounting for the current state of affairs”] (1790).