John spent much of his free time as a child roaming Victorian sub-tropical rainforests by himself.

He was President of the Adelaide University Mountain Club in the early 1990’s and led bushwalking and cross-country skiing trips for students.

In the mid 1990’s John worked as a rock climbing, abseiling and rafting instructor and instructed on survival and team-building programmes.

Between the mid 1990’s and early 2000’s John undertook 4 mountaineering expeditions to the New Zealand Southern Alps, where he climbed ‘solo’, lived in snow-caves and dealt with extreme storms, snow-blindness and some very brave pilots.

John is also no stranger to Australia’s arid interior. He’s been on several overland expeditions into the Western Desert, including traversing sections of the Canning Stock Route in single and multi-vehicle parties.

Outside the world of survival and adventure, John has worked for prominent outdoor retail and manufacturing brands (Mainpeak, Mountain Designs, Sea To Summit and Mont Adventure Equipment), has had executive corporate roles in public companies, and worked as a viticulturist and winemaker.

He once taught friction fire lighting to 76 year 6 students.

John has degrees in Applied Science (Wine Science – Adelaide) and Commerce (Corporate Finance – UWA).

John started instructing for Bob Cooper Outback Survival in 2023.